<. 


The 
Peril  of  the  Republic 

Are  We  Facing  Revolution  in 
the  United  States? 


By 
Daniel  Ghauncey  Brewer 

Author  of  "  Rights  and  Duties  of  'Neutrals  " 


G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New  York  and  London 

Cbe    fmfcfcerbocfcer    press 

1922 


Copyright,  1922 

by 
Daniel  Chauncey  Brewer 


Made  in  the  United  States  of  America 


"  Quo  quidem  tempore  cum  hauruspicies  ex  tota  Etruria  con- 
venissent,  caedes  atque  incendia  et  legum  interitum  et  bellum 
civile  ac  domesticum  et  totius  urbis  atque  imperil  occasum 
appropinquare  dixerunt,  nisi  di  immortales,  omni  ratione  placati, 
suo  numine  prope  fata  ipsa  flexissent." 

CICERO— III  Cataline,  Ch.  VIII. 


515542 


CONTENTS 

PART  I 

IN   GENERAL:   CONDITIONS  FAVORING 
REVOLUTION 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I. — THE  DRIFT  TOWARD  POLITICAL  REVO- 
LUTION   3 

II. — WORLD  FERMENT        ....        8 

III. — How  ABOUT  DEMOCRACY  IN  THE  UNITED 

STATES  ? 17 

IV. — CHANGES  IN  PERSONNEL     ...       36 

V. — THE  CITIZENRY  .         .         .         .59 

VI. — INCENDIARY  APPEAL  ....       69 

VII. — LIMITATIONS  OF  DEMOCRACY        .         .      82 

PART  II 
CONQUEST  BY  INVASION 

I. — IMPORTANT  FACTS  REGARDING  RECENT 

IMMIGRATION 97 

II. — SOWING  THE  SEED  OF  DISAFFECTION  .  no 
III. — PERMITTED  EXPLOITATION  .  .  .  124 
IV. — MACHINERY  FOR  REVOLUTION  .  .135 


vi  Contents 

PART  III 

PHENOMENA  ACCOMPANYING  AND  EXPLAINING 

THE  DECADENCE  OF  DEMOCRACY 

IN  AMERICA 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I. — OCCASION  FOR  INTROSPECTION      .         .159 

II. — SOCIALISM 163 

III. — EDUCATION 175 

IV. — THRALDOM          .         .  .         .192 

V. — AMERICANIZATION        ....     205 

VI. — CORRUPT  AGENTS        .         .         .         .     226 

VII. — NATURALIZATION         ....     240 

VIII. — THE  INTELLECTUALS  ....     260 

IX. — PROPAGANDA 267 

PART  IV 
REVOLUTION 

I. — THE  CALL  FOR  REVOLUTION        .         .291 

II.— THE  WILL  TO  REVOLUTION         .         .     329 

III.— FINALE  .         .         .         -343 


The  Peril  of  the  Republic 


The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

CHAPTER   I 

THE    DRIFT    TOWARD    POLITICAL    REVOLUTION 

""THERE  have  been  a  few  books  written  upon 
•*•  immigration  to  the  United  States  and  many 
upon  the  institutions  of  this  country.  I  do  not 
think  that  any  books  have  been  written  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  how  immigration  is  imperiling 
such  of  these  institutions  as  are  still  functioning. 
This  particular  book  is  written  with  the  sole  pur- 
pose of  pointing  out  that  alien  invasion  has  quick- 
ened the  drift  to  political  revolution.  To  those 
who  think  logically  and  do  not  dare  to  rely  upon 
Providential  interposition,  this  revolution  is  im- 
minent. 

We  are  a  very  great  people  in  our  own  estima- 
tion and  have  had  our  vanity  coddled  and  petted 
by  the  events  that  have  followed  the  World  War. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  our  present  greatness 
owes  something  to  immigration,  but  it  is  absolutely 
certain  that  it  is  chiefly  due  to  the  men  who  framed 

3 


4  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

our  institutions  and  the  institutions  themselves. 
It  is  also  reasonably  sure  that  if  we  are  to  continue 
really  great — useful  to  ourselves  and  the  nations 
— we  must  preserve  these  institutions  and  en- 
deavor to  preserve  the  spirit  of  the  founders 
of  these  institutions  who  have  gone  to  their 
reward. 

How  we  are  to  do  this  I  do  not  know,  but  it  is 
possible  that  a  way  will  be  found.  It  needs  faith 
for  reason  points  the  other  way. 

Thus,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  founders 
of  the  Nation  were  individualists  and  that  their 
Federal  Constitution,  drafted  to  safeguard  in- 
dividual institutions,  is  individualistic,  a  large 
proportion  of  the  American  people  to-day  are  anti- 
individualists,  and  there  is  a  movement  constantly 
accelerating  toward  socialism  with  the  left  wing 
approaching  communism. 

Thus  again  while  our  national  forebears  found 
and  asserted  that  their  experiment  in  government 
necessitated  acquaintance  with  fundamental  prin- 
ciples and  an  interchange  of  opinion,  we  are  vic- 
tims of  confusion  caused  by  a  babel  of  tongues  and 
the  introduction  of  as  many  strange  doctrines  as 
there  are  alien  peoples  in  the  land. 

It  is  logical  and  reasonable  therefore  to  presume 
that  in  these  days  of  swift  changes,  with  lax  inter- 
est in  political  matters,  and  with  confusion  growing 
more  confused,  we  will  shortly  substitute  the  shell 
of  democracy  for  arbitrary  socialism  or  something 


The  Drift  Toward  Political  Revolution    5 

worse,  just  as  we  have  accepted  the  shell  of  demo- 
cracy for  what  was  once  a  real  substance ! 

Does  this  mean  that  the  situation  is  hopeless 
and  that  there  is  no  ground  for  faith  in  a  better 
future  ? 

I  am  not  willing  to  go  so  far,  although  I  find  no 
evidence  of  corrective  action. 

There  are  sti  1  those  in  the  country  who  see  the 
necessity  of  maintaining  early  standards,  and  there 
are  many  others  who  have  endorsed  so-called 
legislative  reforms  which  negative  the  Constitution 
in  the  belief  that  this  can  be  done  without  sacrifice. 

These  latter  have  wished  to  have  the  State 
compel  the  sort  of  sobriety  and  good  conduct 
which  insures  thrift,  but  have  not  understood  that 
government  restraint  suffocates  liberty  which  has 
been  our  choicest  possession  and  explains  our  ex- 
traordinary achievements  as  a  Nation. 

As  humanitarians  they  covet  much  but  they 
have  not  expected  to  barter  a  birthright  therefor. 
On  second  thought  they  will  recall  the  ancient 
word — "What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  shj 


the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul?  " 

If  by  some  miracle  these  two  classes  can  be 
brought  to  see  how  the  gathering  storm  of  alien 
prejudice  is  sure  to  sweep  the  standards  of  both 
before  it  in  a  common  wreckage,  they  will  stand 
en  garde,  and  becoming  a  rallying  center  for  those 
who  are  loyal  to  traditions,  may  stop  what  now 
promises  to  be  a  debacle. 


6  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

It  is  with  this  thought  in  mind  that  I  have  col- 
lated the  following  facts  and  figures  in  an  endeavor 
to  provide  matter  that  will  justify  action.  These 
indicate  world  conditions  which  have  their  reac- 
tions in  the  United  States ;  make  clear  the  signifi- 
cance of  alien  invasion;  and  mark  certain  of  the 
mistakes  and  heresies  which  enfeeble  a  nation 
which  is  facing  an  attempt  to  overthrow  its 
government. 

I  believe  that  they  will  bring  anyone  who  ex- 
amines them  seriously  to  the  inexorable  conclusion 
that  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the  Federal 
Constitution  will  be  scrapped  unless  those  who  are 
American  at  heart  sense  the  situation  and  act  as 
vigorously  as  when  they  threw  themselves  against 
the  German  advance. 

It  is  not  very  probable  that  these  facts  and 
figures  pregnant  with  prophecy  as  they  are,  will 
have  wide  circulation,  but  they  may  play  a  part 
with  the  work  of  others  in  causing  someone  who 
is  potent  in  leadership  to  make  fruitful  inquiry 
and  bring  about  that  which  will  be  akin  to  the 
miraculous. 

Meantime  whatever  attention  they  may  have  I 
exceedingly  desire  that  the  position  of  the  author 
shall  not  be  misunderstood.  While  it  looks  very 
much  to  me  as  if  Society  in  this  country  was  on  the 
edge  of  an  extraordinary  upheaval  that  may  wreck 
democracy,  I  find  nothing  in  the  situation  that 
suggests  aid  and  comfort  to  the  radical-minded. 


The  Drift  Toward  Political  Revolution     7 

Democracy  may  go  under;  the  realization  of 
whatever  is  good  in  the  proposals  of  the  uplift 
workers  may  be  deferred ;  and  chaos  may  be  tem- 
porarily substituted  for  law ;  but  when  the  smoke 
clears  the  worker  for  revolution  will  be  found 
maimed  or  manacled  in  the  wreckage  of  the  in- 
stitutions which  he  has  destroyed. 

This  is  the  only  good  thing  in  the  outlook. 
Unfortunately,  however,  the  workings  of  human 
affairs  which  exact  dreadful  penalties  upon  evil 
and  diseased  minds,  do  not  let  those  who  have  been 
too  patient  with  license  escape,  and  there  is  every 
reason  to  suppose  that  if  an  issue  is  forced,  Society 
rushing  to  its  own  defense  will  provide  for  order 
while  it  gives  little  thought  to  liberty.  This  means 
government  by  one  or  the  few,  and  the  confining 
of  progress  to  the  path  that  one  or  a  few  minds 
may  mark  out. 

In  the  face  of  such  a  possible  catastrophe  far 
more  dreaf ul  than  the  destruction  of  life  and  prop- 
erty, is  there  not  occasion  for  Americans  of  widely 
diverse  minds  to  get  together  and  think  out  a  way 
by  which  the  vantage  ground  secured  by  the  Na- 
tion may  be  stoutly  held  during  this  era  of  flux? 
It  will  be  time  enough  to  force  political  reforms 
when  we  are  sure  that  we  can  retain  the  privileges 
and  immunities  which  have  been  secured  by  past 
sacrifice. 


CHAPTER   II 

WORLD   FERMENT 

IIUMAN  society  has  been  frequently  shaken  up 
*  *  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  it  unrecognizable 
to  those  who  have  familiarized  themselves  with  its 
conventions.  That  it  should  be  so  seems  reason- 
able, if  there  is  to  be  progress. 

The  fact  that  specially  interests  this  generation 
is  the  present  upheaval. 

We  know  something  of  the  great  changes  in 
human  affairs  that  took  place  in  antiquity  and 
which  have  followed  the  wars  and  awakenings  of 
modern  times.  We  have  either  seen  for  ourselves, 
or  heard  from  participants,  of  readjustments  like 
those  which  pressed  closely  after  the  War  for  the 
Union.  Now  we  are  part  and  parcel  of  the  might- 
iest of  all  revolutions,  and  have  occasion  not  only 
to  recall  to  mind  the  experiences  of  past  genera- 
tions, but  to  learn  what  we  may  of  present  con- 
ditions. 

The  former  may  be  reviewed  without  discour- 
agement. The  latter  fill  us  with  dismay,  and 
reasonably  so  because  destructive  elements  appear 
to  be  dominant. 

a 


World  Ferment  9 

It  is  not  difficult  to  face  a  great  change  in  man- 
ners and  methods,  if  it  promises  improvements. 
It  requires  both  philosophy  and  religion  to  meet  a 
future  which  threatens  catastrophe  and  it  is 
difficult  to  persuade  ourselves  that  the  people  of 
former  critical  and  beneficent  eras  may  have  been 
so  blinded  by  strange  experiences  as  to  lose  the 
significance  of  constructive  forces. 

We  say  as  they  said,  " After  us  the  deluge!" 

We  may  be  right  where  they  were  wrong ! 

Meantime  it  behooves  us  to  inform  ourselves  in 
regard  to  world  status,  because  this  has  a  bearing 
upon  society  in  the  United  States  which  would  be 
involved  in  a  common  ruin — and  again  because  of 
the  compelling  fact  that  we  owe  a  duty  to  that 
portion  of  humanity  which  lives  outside  of  our 
boundaries.  This  obligation  may  lead  to  inter- 
vention in  the  affairs  of  others ;  to  cooperation ;  or 
to  abstention  from  that  sort  of  participation  in 
far-reaching  councils  which  will  endanger  the 
widely  accepted  principles  which  underlie  our 
Democracy.  For  the  present  it  is  proposed  to 
roughly  assemble  some  of  the  more  striking  situa- 
tions which  are  demanding  the  attention  of  the 
race  in  order  that  we  may  primarily  reach  right 
conclusions  as  to  the  outlook  for  democracy,  and 
incidentally  that  we  may  be  in  a  better  position 
to  safeguard  our  political  interests  and  define  the 
policy  that  is  to  guide  our  International  relations. 

It  will  be  generally  admitted  that  one  of  the  most 


io  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

important  developments  of  this  era  is  the  world 
awakening.  For  five  or  more  centuries  the  white 
race  has  been  rubbing  its  eyes  and  pulling  itself 
together.  Now  the  yellow,  brown,  and  black 
peoples  have  been  shocked  out  of  their  slumbers 
by  the  conflict  of  the  Nations! 

What  wonder  if,  in  an  endeavor  to  make  work- 
able but  unfashionable  European  thrones  oper- 
ate, they  produce  the  spark  which  will  fire  the 
Globe! 

It  is  only  a  few  years  since  the  present  recluse, 
William  of  Germany,  was  writing  hysterically 
about  the  yellow  peril,  and  expecting  the  Orient 
to  invade  the  Occident. 

Who  at  that  time  dreamed  that  instead  of  pro- 
viding defenses  against  such  an  incursion  Euro- 
peans would  shortly  be  engaged  in  arming  the 
hordes  of  Central  and  Eastern  Asia  with  a  philos- 
ophy more  destructive  than  the  armies  of  Ghenis 
Khan.  Yet  that  is  precisely  what  they  have  been 
doing,  and  though  they  work  swiftly  they  will  find 
it  hard  to  supply  the  demand  for  their  product. 

As  with  the  Tartars  and  the  Mongols  so  with 
the  brown  peoples  of  Southern  and  Western  India 
and  the  blacks  of  Africa.  Coincident  with  the  grim 
adventures  which  suzerain  nations  have  thrust 
upon  them,  has  come  a  new  interest  in  human  re- 
lations that  the  Bolshevik  is  endeavoring  to  satisfy 
in  his  own  peculiar  way.  Inasmuch  as  neither 
teacher  nor  pupil  are  lacking  in  enthusiasm  we  may 


World  Ferment  n 

well  look  for  developments  of  more  than  usual 
importance. 

So  much  for  the  peoples  which  the  geographers 
of  a  generation  past  denominated  semi-civilized 
or  barbarous.  They  may  still  be  hurling  spears 
for  their  daily  food,  or  ignoring  polite  conventions. 
There  is  no  reason  why  they  should  not  participate 
in  the  division  of  human  wealth,  nor  execute  the 
will  of  a  commune.  They  are  in  such  numbers 
and  so  grotesque  in  custom  and  manners  that  the 
inquirer  cannot  hope  to  count  or  catalogue  them 
but  turns  to  Europe  and  the  Americas  to  mark  the 
reaction  of  the  new  era  among  races  habituated,  at 
least  measurably  so,  to  certain  familiar  usages. 

Who  will  say  that  he  shall  find  comfort  in  either 
quarter  ?  Southern  and  Central  America,  the  only 
parts  of  the  Western  continental  hemisphere  that 
may  be  regarded  as  foreign,  remain  inscrutable 
and  may  for  the  moment  be  dismissed  as  such. 

The  affairs  of  Europe  which  never  appear  to 
worse  advantage  than  after  one  of  the  awakenings 
with  which  that  continent  has  treated  herself  dur- 
ing the  last  century  and  a  half,  are  in  a  far  more 
chaotic  condition  than  they  have  been  for  three 
centuries.  This  is  Germany's  real  and  official 
contribution  to  modern  history.  Beside  it  the 
murder  of  defenseless  non-combatants  and  the 
destruction  of  human  monuments  are  of  small  sig- 
nificance. Those  incidents  are  matters  of  the  past. 
The  continuing  fact  of  a  chaotic  Europe  should  be 


12  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

expected  to  abide  for  some  time  to  come,  if  we  con- 
sult human  experience. 

One  gets  no  adequate  idea  of  what  has  happened 
across  seas  to  those  communities  which  have  so 
long  nourished  the  fires  of  civilization  by  reading 
the  graphic  accounts  provided  by  trained  journal- 
ists. These  have  to  do  with  economic  problems, 
human  suffering  and  endless  havoc! 

Neither  is  much  assistance  to  be  secured  by 
studying  the  popular  histories  of  recent  epochs  in 
search  of  parallels.  Such  confusion  in  human  re- 
lations will  hardly  be  found  prior  to  the  era  to 
which  Leibnitz  had  recourse  for  precedents,  when 
ministers  of  state  were  guided  by  custom,  conven- 
ience, and  State  policy  and  International  Law  as 
such  received  scant  recognition. 

In  that  early  time  the  political  map  of  the  Con- 
tinent of  Europe  bore  little  resemblance  to  the  one 
which  has  become  familiar  to  students  during  the 
last  half  century.  It  was  not  unlike  the  tentative 
drafts  for  maps  which  are  now  reaching  us,  plotted 
with  unfamiliar  lines  and  bearing  the  names  of 
unsuspected  countries.  Two  things  favor  the 
earlier  status.  Province,  duchy,  and  bishopric  had 
recorded  some  aptness  for  continuity,  and  all  were 
ruled  over  by  personages  who  were  in  a  position 
to  compel  the  approval  and  endorsement  of  their 
subjects  when  they  entered  into  compacts  with 
other  countries. 

That  cannot  be  said  of  European  Ministers  and 


World  Ferment  13 

leaders  in  1920.  It  is  the  people  who  are  ruling, 
and  the  people  hardly  know  what  they  want  or 
how  far  they  care  to  commit  themselves.  There  is 
consequently  little  stability  in  either  external  or 
internal  affairs.  Granted  that  this  is  good  and 
that  the  apparent  confusion  and  loss  of  integrity 
may  lead  to  happier  policies  and  combinations- 
one  cannot  but  feel  that  it  may  be  necessary  for 
Europe  to  sound  greater  depths  before  any  abiding 
adjustment  of  boundaries  can  be  made — and  this 
all  makes  for  present  uncertainty.  Inasmuch  as 
the  relations  which  the  United  States  can  wisely 
form  with  these  peoples  must  be  modified  in  each 
case  by  the  apparent  strength  and  popularity  of 
the  de  facto  government,  it  will  remain  for  Amer- 
icans not  only  to  keep  informed  in  regard  to  present 
boundary  lines,  but  to  be  prepared  for  kaleido- 
scopic changes. 

A  brief  resume  of  conditions  as  they  now  exist 
will  meantime  be  helpful.  They  will  not  be  found 
to  be  such  as  bring  encouragement.  Great  Britain, 
France,  Italy,  and  Belgium  with  perhaps  two  or 
three  minor  states,  have  come  through  the  war 
with  little  loss  of  prestige  in  circles  which  greatly 
desire  a  rapprochement  between  the  nations  and 
the  application  of  high  standards  to  practical 
politics.  The  European  area  which  their  peoples 
occupy  covers  but  a  modest  fraction  of  the  Con- 
tinent and  is  almost  negligible  in  comparison  with 
the  land  surface  of  the  globe.  Of  these  Great 


14  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

Britain,  because  of  its  sea  power,  its  resources,  and 
predominating  influence  in  other  continents,  will 
for  some  time  carry  the  greatest  weight  in  world 
counsels.  This  is  a  fortunate  fact  for  America 
because  of  common  language  traditions.  Mean- 
time we  are  embarrassed  by  the  Empire's  eco- 
nomic experiments  and  the  Irish  dilemma. 

France  is  brave,  high-minded,  interested  in  pre- 
venting chicanery,  but  beset  with  so  many  prob- 
lems which  affect  her  alone  and  so  vitally — that 
she  can  hardly  avoid  subordinating  a  common 
cause  to  her  own  necessity.  What  is  true  of  France 
is  much  more  evident  in  the  matter  of  Italy  and 
Belgium. 

There  is  nothing  in  Europe  outside  of  the  four 
countries  thus  characterized  to  which  an  advocate 
of  International  Law  as  it  existed  prior  to  the  re- 
cent conflict,  can  look  for  support.  This  means 
that  the  isolation  of  the  United  States  as  far  as  she 
craves  to  further  ameliorate  the  horrors  of  war  or 
set  her  face  toward  ultimate  peace,  is  almost  com- 
plete. It  means  also  that  the  great  Democracy 
may  expect  to  find  serious  difficulties  in.  getting 
sustained  and  responsible  support  for  any  of  its 
views  regarding  international  policy. 

The  statement  is  made  advisedly,  and  with 
Sweden,  Norway,  Denmark,  Holland,  Spain, 
Greece,  and  Switzerland,  the  European  neutrals  of 
recent  years,  in  mind.  These  countries  by  with- 
holding their  assistance  in  a  war  for  the  integrity 


World  Ferment  15 

of  law,  and  for  humanity  have  accepted  the  r61e 
which  the  Great  Powers  at  one  time  assigned  to 
such  neutralized  states  as  Switzerland  and  Belgium. 
The  latter  nations  were  supposed  to  be  relieved 
of  all  sense  of  honor  or  responsibility  and  without 
capacity  to  intervene  in  affairs  which  might  be- 
come of  international  import.  Brave  little  Bel- 
gium refused  to  play  the  part  but  Switzerland  has 
been  acquiescent  and,  because  of  her  aloofness  at  a 
time  which  tried  men's  souls,  may  well  serve  as  a 
model  for  these  modern  neutrals.  For  the  present 
it  will  be  foolhardy  for  any  self-respecting  nation 
to  consider  the  participation  of  the  governments 
of  such  countries  in  any  world  convention  that  is 
of  any  value.  They  have  shown  themselves  to  be 
unwilling  to  risk  anything  for  the  maintenance  of 
international  standards  of  morality. 

There  remain  Russia  whose  throes  of  torment 
yet  shake  the  Globe,  Turkey  the  arch-mistress  of 
Deceit,  or  what  is  left  of  it,  and  the  experiments 
in  nationality  which  have  been  cut  out  of  Austria- 
Hungary  and  Russia.  Certain  of  these  are  vicious. 
Others  are  worthy,  but  rent  by  dissension  and  may 
change  their  complexion  any  moment.  Taken 
together  they  present  more  of  a  menace  to  any 
world  peace  than  did  the  Balkan  coterie  which  kept 
Europe  on  the  qui  vive  from  the  period  of  the  Berlin 
Convention  until  August,  1914.  The  fact  that 
they  include  magnanimous  and  high-spirited 
peoples  has  no  bearing  on  the  matter  unless  to 


16  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

further  involve  it.  It  is  of  far  more  import  that 
these  groups  are  quarrelling  with  each  other  and 
lack  stability  within  themselves — that  Roumania, 
Czecho-Slovakia,  Jugo-Slavia,  Ukrania,  Hungary, 
Bulgaria,  would  make  different  assignments  of 
territory  than  those  adopted  by  the  World  Con- 
vention— and  that  Croatia,  Albania,  and  other 
integral  parts  of  newly  formed  states  have  na- 
tional aspirations  of  their  own. 

Such  then  is  the  word  which  comes  back  to 
anxious  people  in  the  United  States  who  wish  to 
know  more  concerning  world  conditions.  There  is 
not  much  in  it  that  is  reassuring !  For  the  present 
it  may  seem  to  some  that  this  nation  is  firmly  es- 
tablished upon  rock  foundation.  It  may  be  that 
it  is ! — but  there  are  none  to  guarantee  this,  and  the 
peril  is  so  extraordinary  that  prudent  minds  will 
desire  to  provide  further  buttressing. 

It  may  be  that  it  is  not !  The  foundations  are 
not  what  they  were  in  the  past,  but  have  shifted 
with  time  and  have  been  shaken  by  internal  con- 
vulsions. How  can  they  be  expected  to  abide  in  a 
day  when  the  nations  are  being  sifted? 

Society  in  this  country  is  bound  to  have  its  own 
reactions  when  humanity  as  a  whole  is  stirring  with 
new  impulse.  Will  the  Republic  survive  the 
spasm? 


CHAPTER  III 

HOW  ABOUT  DEMOCRACY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES? 

BELIEF  that  world  conditions,  which  are  bad, 
must  directly  affect  society  in  each  political 
sovereignty,  will  lead  American  citizens  to  inquire 
regarding  the  internal  status  of  the  United  States. 

If  human  institutions  outside  of  the  United 
States  are  in  a  state  of  flux — how  about  these 
institutions  in  the  United  States?  How  about 
American  Democracy? 

A  casual  investigation  is  sufficient.  No  one  who 
honestly  takes  note  of  existing  conditions  can 
exclude  from  his  consideration  facts  which  are 
important.  These  invite,  if  they  do  not  compel, 
conclusions  that  are  depressing.  The  inquirer, 
whatever  his  pride  in  the  achievements  of  the  past, 
or  in  the  nation's  glorious  resources  of  energy, 
must  find  that,  as  in  all  decadent  civilizations,  the 
cynic  is  keeping  step  with  the  forceful  autocrat, 
and  that  political  forms  take  the  place  of  what  were 
once  political  facts.  He  is  driven  to  conclude  that 
democratic  institutions  are  seriously  undermined. 

It  is  proposed  in  this  chapter  to  make  cursory 
reference  to  certain  of  the  extraordinary  changes 

a  17 


1 8  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

which  have  transpired  in  this  country  since  the 
enunciation  of  the  basic  truths  of  democracy. 
It  will  then  be  possible  to  discuss  in  the  pages  that 
follow  such  aspects  of  the  present  status  as  appear 
to  be  worthy  of  further  consideration  without  los- 
ing sight  of  general  conditions. 

In  the  beginnings  of  the  Nation  that  form  of 
democracy  which  is  designated  a  republic  was 
accepted  by  our  forbears  as  the  only  form  of 
government  which  could  safeguard  the  individual 
and  society. 

Up  to  the  present  time  no  other  political  system 
has  done  more  for  humanity,  no  other  is  now  of- 
fered which  appeals  to  the  leaders  of  modern 
thought  and  action. 

It  would  therefore  appear  that  not  only  democ- 
racy itself  but  organized  society  has  a  large  task  in 
providing  for  the  perpetuity  of  principles  that 
Americans  have  been  taught  to  revere. 

That  these  are  now  threatened — seriously 
threatened — will  appear  to  any  reader  who  ac- 
cepts as  fact  the  matter  which  is  brought  to  his 
attention  in  these  pages,  and  which  has  been  col- 
lated for  the  purpose  of  stimulating  corrective 
action. 

If  this  is  not  taken,  and  shortly,  it  is  the  writer's 
belief  that  representative  democracy  as  a  system 
is  doomed,  and  that  government  by  the  few,  or 
socialism,  which  is  stagnation  and  death,  are 
inevitable.  He  has  the  courage  to  believe  that 


How  about  Democracy  in  United  States?    19 

democracy  is  as  well  fitted  for  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury as  for  the  generation  that  enunciated  its 
fundamental  requirements,  but  he  is  convinced 
that  it  cannot  continue  to  exist  unless  the  mis- 
chievous abuses  of  the  hour  are  corrected,  or 
rendered  innocuous. 

What  are  the  transmutations  which  have  af- 
fected our  people,  and  what  are  the  perils  which 
require  the  attention  of  patriots  and  lovers  of 
social  order,  if  the  Republic  is  to  live? 

Without  any  attempt  at  orderly  classification  I 
am  going  to  number  a  few  of  these  transmutations : 

i.  Changes  which  have  affected  the  personnel 
of  the  Nation  and  which  will  occur  to  the  most 
casual  observer. 

A  hundred  years  ago  we  were  a  homogeneous 
people,  with  specific  standards.  Fifty  years  later, 
as  was  aptly  noted  by  James  Russell  Lowell,  we 
were  drifting  toward  heterogeneity.  To  Lowell 
that  meant  evil.  To-day  we  are  heterogeneous  in 
race  and  standards,  besides  being  broken  up  into 
classes.  This  will  largely  be  explained  by  immi- 
gration, but  not  altogether.  With  the  highest  in- 
tent, we  have  followed  the  scriptural  injunction  to 
multiply  and  possess  the  earth.  From  a  handful 
of  mortals  experimenting  with  the  miasmas  of 
Virginia  tide  rivers  and  the  seaworn  ledges  of  New 
England,  we  have  become  a  populous  nation 
occupying  the  greater  part  of  North  America. 

Concurrent  with  the  western  movement  the 


20  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

pioneer  has  passed  through  a  gamut  of  modifica- 
tions. As  a  result  the  original  Anglo-Saxon  has 
developed  a  hundred  new  types  and  conglomerate 
species  continue  to  add  novel  sorts  to  a  catalogue 
of  racial  characteristics.  In  the  Revolutionary 
period  the  thirteen  colonies  were  composed  of  An- 
glo-Saxons who  had  already  exhibited  certain 
differences  because  of  environment,  and  other 
Europeans.  To-day  the  population  of  the  United 
States  is  made  up  of  bodies  of  Anglo-Saxons  which 
have  little  affinity  for  each  other — groups  which 
had  their  recent  origin  in  continents  of  the  Eastern 
Hemisphere — and  hybrid  aggregations  which  are 
anomalous  in  appearance  and  thinking. 

More  or  less  informed  in  regard  to  the  origin  of 
the  American  people  and  their  declaratory  prin- 
ciples as  expressed  by  the  Federal  Constitution, 
these  strangely  differing  racial  combinations  are 
chiefly  united  in  ignoring  the  fundamentals  of 
political  freedom,  and  fostering  habits  and  pro- 
moting policies  which  threaten  their  dearest  inter- 
ests. They  have  swung  away  from  the  study  of 
political  principles  which  engrossed  the  attention 
of  colonists  struggling  for  freedom  and  desirous  of 
making  their  conquest  abiding,  to  the  considera- 
tion of  trade  and  purely  domestic  matters. 
Instead  of  using  propaganda  for  the  legitimate 
purpose  of  bulwarking  their  own  institutions,  they 
have  not  only  done  nothing  to  protect  themselves 
against  drives  in  behalf  of  political  heresies,  but 


How  about  Democracy  in  United  States?  21 

have  greeted  such  with  a  degree  of  maudlin  de- 
light which  is  amazing. 

Democracy  without  education  and  virtue  is  un- 
thinkable. Conscious  of  this  they  fool  themselves 
with  elaborate  organization  to  promote  virtue  and 
education  that  has  nothing  in  common  with  real 
virtue  or  real  education.  This  serves  no  other 
purpose  than  to  mark  degeneracy.  They  delight 
in  bigness — refuse  to  respect  the  limitations  of 
democracy — substitute  book-learning  for  com- 
monsense — and  crucify  the  judgment  which  made 
them  independent  as  a  nation  and  as  individuals. 

2.  Changes  which  place  this  generation  in  an 
environment  quite  dissimilar  from  the  one  familiar 
to  their  forbears. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  development  of 
types  which  followed  the  national  movement  west- 
ward. Quite  apart  from  this  result  which  exhibits 
itself  in  sectional  differences,  is  the  effect  wrought 
upon  the  Nation  as  a  whole  by  the  enormous  ex- 
pansion of  its  borders.  When  the  thirteen  colo- 
nies became  a  sovereign  state  their  inhabitants 
either  faced  or  were  in  the  near  vicinity  of  the 
Atlantic  Ocean. 

Representing  different  racial  stocks  as  they  did 
to  a  degree,  they  were  yet  under  the  same  control 
and  wrestled  with  the  same  problems  which  were 
largely  agricultural  or  those  of  a  seafaring  people. 
Therefore  whether  they  raised  corn  and  tobacco, 
or  sailed  the  seas,  they  found  a  common  interest 


22  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

in  their  occupation  and  gave  expression  to  their 
thoughts  in  public  measures  more  or  less  identical. 

Nothing  but  a  fairy  myth  with  a  dominant  magi- 
cian, or  the  historic  tale  of  the  epochal  rush  of  semi- 
barbaric  conquerors,  can  parallel  the  plain  story 
of  the  American  people  as  they  broke  through  the 
Appalachians  which  like  a  magic  circle  bound  them 
to  conformity,  and  tirelessly  followed  the  pioneer 
west  and  south. 

To  the  children  of  these  builders  of  empire  the 
story  is  a  miracle.  To  the  contemporary  of  axe- 
man and  argonaut  it  was  a  marvelous  adventure. 

There  are  those  living  who  heard  Jefferson's 
purchase  of  Louisiana  spoken  of  as  a  deal  in  moon- 
shine— while  men  of  fifty  remember  when  Omaha 
was  a  fort  rather  than  a  city. 

We  have  taken  note  of  the  conquest  of  a  con- 
tinent and  speak  of  it  boastfully,  but  we  have  given 
little  attention  to  the  reactions  wrought  upon  the 
people  as  a  whole.  These  have  been  marked! 
Psychologically  they  have  awakened  an  imperious 
spirit  which  is  accustomed  to  success.  Practically 
they  have  necessitated  a  habit  of  compromise,  and 
a  modification  of  political  statement  to  meet  the 
ambition  of  dwellers  in  prairie,  mountain,  and 
desert.  The  American  of  the  day,  therefore,  what- 
ever his  stock,  his  manner  of  speech,  his  appearance, 
or  his  vocation,  has  not  only  gone  through  with 
an  extraordinary  intellectual  experience,  but  shares 
with  others  the  rule  over  an  inhabited  territory 


How  about  Democracy  in  United  States?  23 

vastly  greater  than  that  which  was  governed  by  the 
founders  of  the  Republic.  In  the  formative  days  of 
his  political  experiment  the  citizen  of  the  United 
States  had  to  do  with  tens  of  thousands — to-day 
his  task  lies  with  tens  of  millions.  In  1810  there 
was  opportunity  for  conference  with  one's  fellows 
or  at  one's  clubs  and  to  find  a  medium  for  group 
expression.  To-day  it  is  impossible.  Shades  of 
thought  are  as  numerous  as  the  coteries  that  give 
them  birth,  and  these  are  without  number.  Those 
survive  which  are  pushed  by  the  most  adroit 
manipulator,  the  others  vanquish  each  other. 

Was  it  difficult  in  1790  for  the  new  democracy 
to  secure  any  sort  of  unanimity  when  the  people 
to  be  affected  were  but  few  and  physical  problems 
more  or  less  identical  ?  If  so,  and  a  glance  at  Mac- 
Masters  or  any  other  historian  of  that  period  will 
allow  but  one  conclusion — it  must  be  conceded 
that  the  difficulties  which  the  more  seasoned 
republic  has  to  face  to-day  have  been  multiplied 
a  hundredfold  with  the  increased  population  and 
the  extension  of  territory.  These  factors,  which 
make  it  difficult  for  a  free  people  to  provide  ma- 
chinery that  will  function,  by  no  means  exhaust 
the  catalogue  of  threatening  dilemmas  which 
arise  from  innovations  that  affect  environment. 

A  hundred  years  ago  we  walked,  rode,  or  trav- 
eled by  stagecoach  and  communicated  with  one 
another  by  word  of  mouth  or  slowly  traveling 
letter. 


24  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

To-day  we  have  eliminated  distance  by  the 
utilization  of  natural  forces  and  talk  with  friends 
across  the  continent.  To  some  it  has  appeared 
that  these  facts  make  for  consolidation.  They  do 
not !  To  be  sure  intercommunication  is  practicable 
when  it  was  impossible  before,  but  facilities  for 
bringing  people  into  touch  with  each  other  are 
unfortunately  not  used  in  any  great  degree  by 
those  who  ought  to  take  advantage  of  them  to  se- 
cure information.  They  rather  become  avenues 
through  which  a  powerful  man  or  an  all  important 
clique  can  reach  the  ears  of  possible  constituents 
and  secure  their  adhesion  to  programs  that  too 
frequently  are  misunderstood. 

This  is  not  helpful  to  democracy.  Neither  are 
modifications  in  environment  brought  about  by 
industrialism  and  methods  of  living.  There  used 
to  be  a  time  for  work,  a  time  for  play,  a  time  for 
social  conference,  and  a  time  for  discussion  of 
issues  that  interested  all. 

We  still  work  and  we  still  play,  but  our  work  is  of 
the  machine  sort  which  does  little  to  encourage 
pride  or  self-confidence,  and  our  play  consists  in 
herding  together  and  watching  others  play  under 
the  spotlight  of  the  theater  or  before  the  so-called 
bleachers.  We,  that  is  the  majority  of  us,  no 
longer  call  at  each  other's  homes  or  meet  each 
other  at  church  or  in  the  town-meeting,  and  we  no 
longer  discuss  issues,  although  we  listen  to  each 
other.  All  this  is  bad  for  democracy. 


How  about  Democracy  in  United  States?  25 

3.  Changes  in  objective.  The  people  of  the 
colonies  were  as  keen  to  improve  their  physical 
well-being  as  are  Americans  to-day.  Human 
nature  is  fairly  constant  in  its  desire  to  acquire 
property  or  improve  its  position.  Thus  the 
colonial  agriculturists  or  traders  were  as  shrewdly 
conscious  of  business  opportunity  as  are  their 
commercialized  progeny  of  modern  times.  The 
difference  between  Americans  of  the  past  and 
present  lies  in  the  colonist's  keen  appreciation  of 
the  fact  that  he  could  not  better  his  condition  as 
opportunity  offered  unless  he  enjoyed  freedom — 
and  the  lack  of  this  perception  which  character- 
izes the  contemporary  business  man.  The  former 
sacrificed  much  to  secure  the  liberty  he  did  not 
possess.  The  latter,  possessing  liberty,  does  not 
realize  that  it  may  readily  be  lost. 

Before  the  Revolution  and  during  the  first 
period  of  the  national  life  ambitious  men  in  North 
America  were  thwarted  and  embarrassed  by  the 
policies  of  succeeding  British  ministers.  Youth 
was  born  into  the  depressing  atmosphere  of  an 
over-lordship — manhood  felt  itself  dwarfed  and 
cramped  by  an  espionage  that  created  irritation— 
and  age  mused  over  ways  and  means  to  throw  off 
the  yoke.  There  was  consequently  one  objective—- 
and that,  Freedom,  its  acquirement  and  buttressed 
possession. 

Again — because  of  the  wide  areas  of  unsettled 
country  which  opened  unlimited  opportunity  to 


26  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

all,  and  because  of  the  need  for  stimulating  rather 
than  repressing  the  activities  of  one's  neighbors — 
it  rightly  appeared  to  these  generations  that 
Liberty  was  threatened  from  without. 

They  knew  their  objective  therefore  and  the 
lines  along  which  it  was  to  be  directed.  We  know 
how  well  and  forcefully  they  translated  their 
information  and  convictions  into  action.  They 
secured  a  reward  for  their  endeavor  that  brought 
blessing  for  themselves  and  their  children's 
children. 

It  has  been  quite  different  with  the  descendants 
of  the  men  who  drafted  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  Since  the  battle  of  New  Orleans 
the  objective  of  the  nation  has  been  along  com- 
mercial lines.  The  open  river  valleys,  the  prairies, 
and  the  plains  beckoned  to  the  agriculturist  and 
stockman,  and  the  mountains  and  forests  com- 
pelled the  attention  of  the  miner  and  woodsman. 
All  this  was  as  it  should  have  been  and  nothing 
but  profit  would  have  followed  if  the  pioneer  and 
settler  had  continued  to  bear  in  mind  the  political 
truths  which  underlay  their  achievements.  This 
they  did  not  do.  Theirs  was  a  far  look  but  not  a 
broad  one.  They  saw  visions  and  dreamed  dreams 
without  giving  much  attention  to  the  cost  of  ac- 
quirement or  maintenance.  Increasing  wealth 
provided  the  wherewithal  for  experiment,  and 
daring  exploits  stimulated  invention. 

Possessed  of  all  that  was  patent  and  obvious  in 


How  about  Democracy  in  United  States?  27 

their  inheritance,  they  commenced  to  exploit  its 
latent  resources  which  still  appeared  to  be  bound- 
less. This  led  to  the  building  of  mills,  of  smelters, 
of  foundries,  and  factories;  the  working  out  of 
transportations  and  credit  systems,  and  such  a 
mad  materialistic  whirl  as  commanded  the  best 
energies  of  the  best  men.  It.  was  a  marvelous 
movement,  and  for  a  time  a  logical  one — only  one 
thing  explained  it.  The  possession  of  Freedom. 

The  period  in  our  national  life  that  knew  Andrew 
Jackson,  Lewis  and  Clark,  Astor,  the  Lawrences, 
and  Commodore  Vanderbilt,  was  no  longer 
shackled.  It  was  free  from  outside  interference 
and  was  as  yet  without  interior  political  problems 
or  restraints.  Its  objective  was  gold  and  the  posi- 
tion and  comfort  that  gold  gives.  It  grappled  for 
all  of  this  commodity  that  it  could  get,  and  finding 
that  it  was  unable  to  gather  all  that  was  available 
without  the  help  of  others,  encouraged  Ireland 
and  Germany  to  send  immigrants  who  would 
farm  out  their  help.  Meantime  it  nourished  slav- 
ery in  its  own  bosom,  and  stirred  by  the  opening 
of  California  and  the  defeat  of  Mexico,  gave  an 
impetus  to  corporate  control  of  basic  supplies  and 
manufactured  product  that  was  hardly  consonant 
with  the  theories  upon  which  its  good  fortune  had 
been  builded. 

Then  came  the  Civil  War  which  for  a  time  so- 
bered men's  minds,  while  it  exacted  an  awful  pen- 
alty for  breach  of  recognized  principles.  While  the 


28  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

dreadful  experience  of  fratricidal  strife  rebuked 
ambition  and  encouraged  self-examination,  it  also 
trained  thousands  of  young  men  for  executive 
service  and  stimulated  the  thirst  for  accomplish- 
ment. As  a  result  the  last  state  of  the  nation 
became  worse  than  the  first,  and  the  great  drive 
was  opened  which  .has  made  us  the  richest  people 
that  the  globe  has  ever  seen. 

If  wealth  connoted  happiness  or  satisfied  human 
longing,  all  would  be  well.  Unfortunately  it  does 
not,  and  unfortunately  again  it  encourages  that 
mad  thirst  for  more  wealth  that  leads  to  despotism 
and  negatives  freedom.  We  are  opening  our  eyes 
to  this  because  it  is  forced  upon  us  by  the  cumula- 
tive evidence  of  our  senses,  by  the  snarl  of  the 
proletariat,  by  disloyal  grouping  of  factions,  and 
the  concentration  of  power. 

Man  in  society  is  slow  to  philosophize  until 
driven  to  it.  Then  if  he  is  reasonably,  intelligent, 
he  will  see  patent  absurdities. 

Increasing  disaffection  in  the  United  States  will 
ultimately  require  cerebration.  When  we  have 
discovered  that  the  end  to  which  all  our  energies 
are  directed  is  antagonistic  to  every  principle 
which  binds  us  together  as  a  body  politic — viz. — 
that  unrestrained  commercialism  murders  Free- 
dom, and  enthrones  Tyranny — we  will  try  to 
readjust  ourselves.  Probably  when  it  is  too  late, 
Man  is  far  more  potent  when  he  releases  forces 
than  when  he  tries  to  hold  them  in  check.  Mean- 


How  about  Democracy  in  United  States?  29 

time  it  is  none  too  early  to  advance  the  proposition 
that  just  as  the  ultimate  objective  of  every  en- 
thralled people  should  be  Freedom,  so  the  ultimate 
objective  of  a  free  democracy  should  be  the  reten- 
tion of  liberties  once  secured. 

In  an  earlier  paragraph  I  have  called  attention 
to  the  fact  that  the  organizers  of  democracy  in 
the  United  States  appreciated  the  fact  that  their 
freedom  was  curtailed  because  of  outside  interfer- 
ence, and  knew  the  lines  along  which  their  effort 
to  secure  liberty  was  to  be  directed. 

It  must  be  obvious  by  this  time  to  every  in- 
formed citizen  of  the  country  that  if  our  free  in- 
stitutions come  tumbling  down  about  our  ears,  it 
will  not  be  because  of  outside  activities  but  pri- 
marily, if  not  entirely,  because  of  mischief  brewing 
within.  Knowing  this,  there  should  be  no  difficulty 
in  planning  a  corrective  campaign,  not  against  an 
outside  foe  like  the  one  that  endeavored  to  strangle 
our  forefathers — but  against  the  interior  perils 
which  threaten  our  lives,  our  liberties,  and  our 
property.  Meanwhile  there  will  be  no  use  in 
launching  such  a  campaign  unless  it  absorbs  our 
chief  endeavor. 

There  is  no  danger  that  such  concentration  will 
interfere  with  the  honorable  and  profitable  use  of 
our  commercial  genius.  Even  the  shortsighted  will 
acknowledge  that  it  is  better  economics  to  bulwark 
the  foundations  upon  which  industry  rests  than  to 
commercially  commit  suicide. 


30  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

In  discussing  forces  or  conditions  that  have 
wrought  modifications  in  the  American  democracy 
I  have  thus  taken  up  seriatim  changes  brought 
about  by  personnel,  environment,  and  objective  in 
a  very  broad,  but  I  hope  suggestive  way.  The 
purposes  of  this  chapter  will  be  realized  if  I  now 
briefly  catalogue  enough  of  the  more  particular 
changes  in  the  relations  which  Americans  bear  to 
themselves  to  justify  the  insistent  call  for  action 
which  I  am  making.  Certain  of  these  might  have 
been  considered  under  the  heads  already  noted, 
but  are  of  sufficient  importance  to  require  reference. 
Some  of  them  will  be  treated  more  particularly 
hereafter. 

GENERAL  CHANGES 

If  education  in  a  democracy  means  such  educa- 
tion in  citizenship  as  affects  the  morale  of  a  na- 
tion— it  can  be  said  that  whereas  we  were  once  an 
educated  people,  we  are  such  no  longer.  There 
has  been  an  elaboration  of  system  (which  conscien- 
tious teachers  have  tried  to  adapt  to  the  needs  of 
the  people,  without  much  success),  but  it  has 
served  other  purposes,  and  has  been  restricted  to 
those  who  in  many  instances,  because  of  deficient 
judgment,  would  have  been  better  without  it. 
Just  how  unfortunate  this  is  will  not  appear  until 
the  reader  informs  himself  by  reference  to  illiter- 
acy tables,  or  endeavors  to  explain  the  presence  of 
advanced  radicals  in  the  faculties  of  our  colleges 


How  about  Democracy  in  United  States?  31 

and  the  teaching  forces  of  great  municipalities. 
Is  it  not  evident  that  illiteracy  exists  because  of  a 
lack  of  education,  and  that  radicalism  is  on  the 
increase  because  of  wrong  education  ? 

Whatever  the  answer  may  be,  it  seems  proper  in 
this  connection  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that 
we  are  not  relying  as  much  upon  natural  sanity 
and  good  judgment  as  in  our  golden  period  when 
everyone  in  the  country  read  and  discussed  public 
measures.  There  is  little  question  but  that  in  those 
days  a  person  born  with  a  strong  understanding 
and  the  faculty  of  distinguishing  between  right 
and  wrong  was  accorded  a  hearing  and  secured  a 
following.  In  these  days  public  debate  and  dis- 
cussion is  very  largely  limited  to  the  centers  of 
metropolitan  cities  which  are  colonized  by  for- 
eigners. The  opinions  of  men  and  women  of 
judgment,  therefore,  do  not  get  the  circulation  that 
should  be  accorded  them,  and  the  crowd  is  inclined 
to  listen  to  persons  who  have  acquired  academic 
titles  and  whose  experience  and  judgment  is  not 
such  as  to  fit  them  to  plan  wisely  either  for  them- 
selves or  for  others.  One  who  listens  to  platform 
orators  who  control  mob  sentiment  at  present  will 
not  only  appreciate  the  truth  of  this  statement  but 
will  have  an  opportunity  for  noting  one  of  the  most 
alarming  facts  with  which  we  have  to  do,  and  that 
is  the  creation  of  class  antipathy.  This,  which 
caused  little  trouble  to  our  ancestors,  is  now  on  the 
increase. 


32  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

Just  when  we  ceased  to  become  a  nation  held 
together  in  a  degree  (however  divergent  its  poli- 
cies), by  a  common  faith  in  underlying  principles, 
it  is  impossible  to  state.  Everyone  knows  the 
sharp  difference  of  opinion  which  existed  between 
the  Federalists  and  the  followers  of  Jefferson,  and 
recognizes  in  the  dislikes  of  earlier  days  the  seeds 
of  that  discontent  which  has  yearly  widened  the 
breach  between  men  and  women  with  vested  in- 
terests and  their  less  fortunate  brethren. 

Such  differences,  however,  do  not  appear  in  the 
beginning  to  have  taken  on  a  more  serious  aspect 
than  would  properly  be  expected  from  the  antag- 
onism of  political  parties.  It  is  true  that  friction 
between  these  groups  led  to  unlawful  action  at 
times  when  particular  issues  were  before  the  public, 
as  in  the  days  when  the  estates  of  the  great  pa- 
troons  were  broken  up,  but  nothing  resembling 
present  cleavage  between  wealth  and  poverty 
made  itself  felt  until  a  proletariat  nurtured  in 
Europe  commenced  to  exert  an  evil  influence  on 
this  side  of  the  water.  Since  those  days  the  gap 
has  widened  and  deepened  until  it  prevents  inter- 
course. There  is  no  crossing  over  the  chasm. 

What  is  certain  in  regard  to  the  breach  between 
the  rich  and  the  poor  is  alarmingly  true  in  other 
instances.  Labor  exercises  its  sovereign  will 
without  regard  to  the  representations  of  capital, 
and  coteries  of  industrial  chiefs,  against  the  better 
sense  of  those  employers  of  labor  who  are  also  men 


How  about  Democracy  in  United  States?  33 

of  affairs,  persist  in  policies  which  the  best  labor 
men  find  offensive.  These  relations  have  cul- 
minated in  something  akin  to  civil  war.  Again  the 
farmer  as  such  is  viewing  the  banker  askance — the 
employer,  whether  a  capitalist  or  not,  has  little 
in  common  with  his  employee — and  the  speculative 
group,  ever  on  the  increase  where  wealth  is  piling 
up,  appears  to  be  directing  its  whole  effort  toward 
the  sort  of  destructive  criticism  which  irritates 
practical  men  because  it  undermines  and  destroys 
without  contributing  anything  to  the  public  wel- 
fare. 

Democracy  cannot  flourish  in  a  country  where 
the  drift  of  affairs  produces  feuds  and  jealousies 
rather  than  solidarity  and  harmony.  Especially 
is  this  true  in  a  case  where  the  greatest  change 
wrought  in  a  free  nation  like  the  United  States  is 
brought  about  by  the  shift  from  concerns  which  are 
within  the  grasp  of  humanity  to  a  bigness  which  is 
beyond  the  comprehension  of  its  finite  mind. 

When  a  man  is  young  it  is  second  nature  for  him 
to  aim  at  acquiring  the  things  which  appear  good 
and  to  be  close  at  hand.  If  he  follows  simple  lines, 
he  not  infrequently  attains  his  object. 

Ambition  leads  him  as  he  grows  older  to  reach 
out  into  unknown  fields  and  to  venture  into  strange 
byways.  As  a  consequence  burdens  and  com- 
plexities accumulate — cross  currents  interfere  with 
progress — and  various  entanglements  require  a 
departure  from  tried  ways  until,  if  he  has  not  a 
i 


34  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

masterful  sense  of  direction,  he  becomes  con- 
fused. 

It  is  not  otherwise  with  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  In  their  beginnings  there  was  simplicity. 
As  they  commenced  to  make  history  they  adopted 
or  permitted  internal  policies  which  have  become  so 
bewildering  that  there  is  no  way  out  but  by  taking 
the  back  track. 

Whatever  other  change  has  taken  place  among 
them  since  their  first  experience  as  a  nation,  they 
are  utterly  out  of  their  depth  as  was  illustrated 
before  the  Great  War,  and  is  now  being  abun- 
dantly demonstrated  by  the  unconvincing  and  futile 
endeavors  of  statesmen  and  economists  to  handle 
major  problems  or  to  prognosticate  the  immediate 
future.  Again  and  again  we  are  told  that  remedial 
legislation  will  work  out  certain  reforms  only  to 
find  that  its  effect  is  exactly  opposite  to  that  which 
was  aimed  at ;  and  again  and  again  we  are  wrongly 
advised  as  to  the  future. 

There  is  but  one  conclusion,  and  that  need  not 
be  at  all  to  the  discredit  of  our  public  men.  The 
times  have  changed — the  Nation  has  changed — 
Life  has  become  so  hopelessly  involved  as  to  make 
it  difficult  for  society,  and  especially  a  democracy, 
to  order  its  own  affairs. 

Man  has  greatly  aspired  and  thought  of  himself 
as  a  god.  As  a  reward  the  Power  behind  all  things 
has  taken  his  dare  and  set  him  to  grappling  with 
infinities  which  have  been  graded  in  the  awful  im- 


How  about  Democracy  in  United  States?  35 

possibility  of  their  magnitude  so  as  to  bear  some 
proportion  to  the  accomplishments  of  the  several 
nations. 

It  seems  as  if  this  country  would  have  enough  to 
do,  in  order  to  pull  itself  back  to  safer  ground, 
without  having  such  other  embarrassments  as  are 
coming  to  it  in  the  form  of  war  with  the  proleta- 
riat— socialism  and  like  heresies — propaganda — 
and  last  of  all  and  most  important  of  all,  the  occu- 
pation of  the  land  by  an  alien  population. 


CHAPTER  IV 

CHANGES   IN    PERSONNEL 

IN  the  interests  of  Democracy  I  have  in  a  cursory 
*  manner  reviewed  world  conditions  outside  of 
the  United  States  which  are  affecting,  or  promise 
to  shortly  affect,  this  people. 

I  have  also  made  hasty  reference  to  some  of  the 
actual  problems  which  limit,  or  are  about  to  limit, 
the  liberties  of  the  Nation. 

The  reader  who  is  good  enough  to  discuss  with 
me  in  the  following  pages  the  imminent  perils, 
which  impend,  may  advisedly  bear  in  mind  not 
only  chaotic  conditions  within  our  borders,  but  the 
troubled  status  of  the  world. 

In  a  confused  and  unfortunate  manner  public 
speakers  frequently  allude  to  immigrants  entering 
the  United  States  as  definitely  identified  with  the 
Europeans  who  colonized  this  part  of  the  Western 
Hemisphere.  The  statement  is  so  erroneous  and 
crude  that  it  is  surprising  that  it  should  have  mis- 
led anyone.  Nevertheless  it  has  done  so,  and  as  a 
consequence  thousands  of  educated  people  are  ill- 
advisedly  wasting  sentiment  and  drawing  wrong 

36 


Changes  in  Personnel  37 

conclusions!  This  interferes  with  those  who  are 
earnestly  endeavoring  to  do  constructive  work. 

There  is  no  question  but  that  these  coasts  were 
colonized  by  people  from  various  parts  of  Europe 
who,  after  the  settlements  had  taken  form  and 
character  and  when  the  new  nation  was  building 
up,  were  joined  by  millions  of  their  fellows  who 
crossed  the  seas  to  cast  in  their  lot  with  the  original 
pioneers. 

It  is  also  true  that  the  first  white  people  who 
faced  the  West  in  their  search  for  freedom,  and 
the  later  arrivals  who  helped  them  to  conquer  the 
wilderness,  were  immigrants.  That  is  to  say,  they 
came  into  rather  than  went  out  of  the  country,. 

But  these  pioneers  and  settlers  had  little  in 
common  with  the  type  of  immigrant  that  has 
swarmed  into  the  country  during  the  last  fifty 
years  because  of  the  undue  activity  of  steamship 
agents,  the  graft  of  those  desiring  labor,  or  from  a 
desire  to  take  advantage  for  the  time  being  of 
remunerative  wages. 

The  founders  of  the  nation,  whether  well- 
known  or  obscure,  were  animated  by  high  purposes, 
either  spoke  the  English  language,  or  quickly 
made  the  latter  their  vehicle  of  communication, 
and  recognized  British  Institutions  as  providing 
forms  and  precedents  for  the  compacts  or  State 
papers  which  they  framed. 

Later  immigration  can  only  be  referred  to  as  a 
tidal  wave  of  human  ignorance,  poverty,  and  bad 


38  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

philosophy.  The  fact  that  it  has  borne  in  its 
currents  groups  of  men  of  the  finest  genius,  courage 
and  ability,  in  no  way  affects  the  fairness  of  this 
characterization.  These  latter  have  already  identi- 
fied themselves  with  the  American  people  and 
have  brought  to  them  graces  and  qualities  with 
which  they  would  otherwise  have  remained  un- 
furnished. Curiously  enough  no  group  in  the 
whole  broad  land  is  more  alert  to  point  out  the 
exceeding  great  danger  that  is  threatening  the 
country  because  of  unfortunate  policies  which  now 
threaten  to  dispossess  us  of  an  exceedingly  fair 
and  beautiful  heritage. 

It  is  the  bulk  of  recent  immigration,  above  re- 
ferred to  as  a  tidal  wave,  which  now  requires  the 
attention  of  the  reader. 

At  the  time  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
was  framed  there  were  in  the  thirteen  colonies 
some  three  million  people.  In  the  year  1820  when 
immigration  statistics  were  first  collated  under 
government  supervision,  the  population  was 
9,638,453.  In  the  following  years — viz. — from 
1820  to  1844 — the  Nation  besides  the  natural 
increase  coming  to  a  vigorous  people  which  drew 
sustenance  from  the  land,  received  some  1,064,914 
foreigners.  These  became  quickly  assimilated. 
Then  as  everyone  knows  came  the  great  German 
and  Irish  immigration  caused  by  the  struggle  for 
political  recognition  in  Europe — and  continuing 
until  the  period  of  the  Civil  War.  This  brought 


Changes  in  Personnel  39 

millions  of  liberty-loving  souls  of  Germanic  and 
Celtic  stock  which  were  in  more  or  less  sympathy 
with  the  then  population  of  the  country. 

The  later  immigration  had  no  intention  of  re- 
turning across  seas  where  in  many  cases  it  would 
have  been  greeted  with  dungeons  or  persecution. 
Its  units  came  to  share  in  the  fortunes  of  the 
American  people,  to  assist  them  in  opening  up 
their  forests  and  mines,  and  to  help  in  the  develop- 
ment of  their  commerce. 

Sometimes  in  racial  groups,  but  more  frequently 
as  part  and  parcel  of  the  pioneering  English-speak- 
ing vanguard,  it  pressed  through  the  river  valleys, 
crossed  the  mountain  ridges  and  settled  the  Middle 
West.  Its  representatives  were  found  in  long 
wagon  trains  which  ventured  into  the  passes  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  pushed  through  to  the  Golden 
Gate,  or  worked  their  way  toward  the  Columbia 
River.  All  this  immigration  prior  to  the  Civil 
War  has  become  bone  of  our  bone,  flesh  of  our 
flesh. 

For  the  most  part  immigration  which  has  come 
to  us  since  the  war  between  the  States  and  particu- 
larly since  1880,  has  been  of  an  entirely  different 
character,  and  justifies  the  characterization  al- 
ready given,  viz.,  a  tidal  wave  of  ignorance,  poverty, 
and  bad  philosophy.  It  is  of  this  amazing  body  of 
aliens  that  I  desire  to  speak. 

As  far  as  we  know  it  is  numerically  greater  than 
any  other  body  of  human  beings  which  has  ever 


40  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

moved  across  the  earth's  surface  in  a  like  period  of 
time.  If  we  liken  its  incursion  to  that  of  an  army, 
we  must  think  graphically  of  men  and  women  of 
revolutionary  stock  with  such  accessions  as  came 
into  the  country  prior  to  1 860  (and  which  have  been 
briefly  referred  to)  as  being  practically  overwhelmed 
by  this  awful  inrush.  Fortunately  they  have  not 
all  remained  with  us.  These  latter  immigrants 
together  with  their  natural  increase,  now  in  prac- 
tical occupation  of  certain  sections  of  the  United 
States,  far  outnumber  that  part  of  the  resident 
population  of  the  defined  area  which  is  descended 
from  those  who  established  our  free  institutions, 
fought  the  war  for  the  Union,  and  opened  the 
whole  land  for  settlement. 

I  have  elsewhere  endeavored  to  make  some  com- 
parison between  this  incursion  and  the  history- 
making  movements  of  the  Huns  and  Moguls,  the 
Tartars  and  the  droves  of  humanity  that  followed 
Alaric,  Attila,  Genghis  Khan,  and  other  forceful 
leaders.  There  is,  however,  no  parallel  unless  it  be 
in  the  personnel.  The  hordes  that  overturned  the 
Roman  Empire  were  numbered  by  hundreds  of 
thousands.  We  have  to  do  with  millions  and  tens 
of  millions !  While  the  ancient  swarms  were  pre- 
ceded by  armed  forces,  which  now  and  then  fought 
pitched  battles,  their  real  conquests  lay  in  the 
manner  in  which  they  filtrated  through  and  pene- 
trated into  the  midst  of  peoples  semi- decadent  or 
too  slothful  to  notice  what  was  happening  to  them. 


Changes  in  Personnel  41 

Unless  I  have  drawn  wrong  deductions  from  my 
historical  reading,  the  swarms  of  recent  immigrants 
to  America  have  come  into  a  completer  possession 
of  the  areas  which  they  occupy  than  their  predeces- 
sors were  ever  able  to  secure  in  a  similar  period. 

In  the  interests  of  a  broad  differentiation  I  have 
specified  the  close  of  the  Civil  War  as  marking  the 
time  when  the  newer  and  less  desirable  immigra- 
tion commenced.  From  1866  to  1878  inclusive  we 
received  3,834,949  aliens.  The  latter  year  showed 
a  temporary  falling-off .  This  phenomenon  gener- 
ally accompanies  industrial  depression.  From 
1879  to  1894  inclusive  we  received  7,747,039 
aliens.  Again  there  was  a  falling-off.  From  1894 
to  1914,  the  year  when  the  war  forced  a  suspension 
in  immigration,  we  received  14,730,738  aliens. 
This  makes  a  total  of  26,312,726  persons  who  in 
something  less  than  fifty  years  have  sifted  into  a 
population  which  in  1860  was  31,443,320. 

While  in  the  interests  of  fairness  it  must  be 
remembered  that  there  has  been  a  constant  drift 
back  to  Europe,  and  that  the  bulk  of  the  immi- 
grants have  been  men,  we  must  yet  bear  in  mind 
that  the  classes  to  which  these  foreigners  belong 
bear  large  families  and  increase  far  more  rapidly 
than  does  that  part  of  the  population  which  is 
more  refined.  This  explains  why  the  census  reports 
from  decade  to  decade  show  an  increasing  ratio  of 
foreign-born  and  foreign-parentage  to  native- 
born.  It  also  provides  us  with  ground  for  the 


42  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

statements  already  made  that  when  it  comes  to 
numbers  the  population  of  certain  sections  of  the 
United  States  contains  more  persons  of  foreign 
blood,  allegiance  and  interests  than  of  native 
stock. 

This  is  a  situation  which  is  intolerable.  We 
claim  that  the  United  States  is  a  democracy,  and 
in  the  same  breath  assert  that  one  of  the  funda- 
mental requirements  of  democracy  is  free  inter- 
course and  exchange  of  opinion. 

Either  we  are  not  a  democracy  in  spite  of  our 
declarations,  or  else  we  are  muddling  along  with- 
out a  "fundamental  requirement  of  democracy." 
Some  will  say  one  thing — some  another.  Mean- 
time it  will  be  difficult  for  anyone  to  find  a  country 
whose  population  is  more  widely  divided  in  tradi- 
tions, aspirations  and  leadership. 

Let  no  one  think  that  the  above  figures  have 
been  used  in  such  a  way  as  to  exaggerate  the  peril, 
or  to  give  an  unreal  conception  of  the  situation. 
The  times  are  too  serious  for  any  misuse  of  facts. 
Instead  of  coloring  available  data  in  such  a  way  as 
to  unduly  magnify  its  importance,  I  prefer  that 
readers  should  examine  statistics  for  themselves 
and  view  with  suspicion  any  matter  which  they 
cannot  confirm.  If  I  had  been  otherwise  minded, 
I  might  have  ventured  the  opinion  that  that  part 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States  who  have  re- 
ceived a  common  school  education  and  who  are 
descended  from  stock  for  two  generations  resident 


Changes  in  Personnel  43 

in  the  country,  are  greatly  outnumbered  (I  am  not 
now  speaking  of  districts  but  of  the  country  as  a 
whole),  by  sometime  aliens  naturalized  but  un- 
worthy, by  unassimilated  persons,  and  illiterates. 
Such  conclusions,  if  offered  for  the  purpose  of 
argument,  would  have  been  based  upon  various 
facts  among  which  are  the  following : 

1.  Naturalization  up  to  the  present  time  has 
been   conducted   with   a   total   disregard   of   all 
reasonable  requirements.      There  are  thousands 
of  people  now  holding  the  franchise  who  fail  to 
square  with  the  elementary  requirements  of  citizen- 
ship. 

2.  In  compiling  the  census  data  enumerators 
have  utterly  failed  to  secure  any  proper  numbering 
of  individuals  of  foreign-birth  and  foreign-parent- 
age.   Therefore  statistics  in  regard  to  this  group 
are  to  be  taken  with  suspicion. 

In  making  this  statement  I  have  in  mind  condi- 
tions in  cities  where  welfare  workers  have  not  hesi- 
tated to  remark  that  there  were  twice  as  many 
Italians  or  Poles  in  given  districts  as  were  ac- 
counted for  in  the  returns.  Anyone  who  knows 
the  foreign  section  of  our  great  cities  will  appreciate 
how  probable  this  is.  It  is  explained  by  the  fact 
that  great  crowds  of  unskilled  workmen  (Euro- 
peans, etc.)  herd  together  in  boarding-houses  and 
camps,  shifting  so  frequently  as  to  make  it  im- 
possible to  follow  their  movements  or  attach  them 
to  a  domicile. 


44  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

3.  There  are  in  the  South  alone,  ten  million 
negroes  the  larger  part  of  whom  are  ignorant. 

By  taking  these  different  elements  into  consid- 
eration with  other  official  figures  the  inquirer  may 
well  make  it  appear  that  the  unassimilated  mass  of 
persons  in  this  country  are  out  of  touch  with  its 
institutions,  and  he  may  do  this  too  without 
reckoning  the  crackers  of  Georgia,  the  mountain 
whites  of  North  Carolina  and  similar  contingents. 

Such  data  is  suggestive  but  may  be  left  to  others 
since  a  review  of  conditions  in  that  part  of  the 
crowded  portion  of  the  United  States  which  has 
chiefly  attracted  the  so-called  pilgrims  for  the  last 
fifty  years,  appears  to  justify  national  action. 

According  to  the  census  of  1910  there  were  in 
the  district  thus  adverted  to — (this  includes  six- 
teen States  and  nine  outlying  centers) — which  will 
be  more  carefully  examined  later,  27,576,591  per- 
sons, foreign-born  and  mixed  parentage. 

Reference  to  the  report  of  the  immigration 
authorities  for  the  years  from  1910  to  1918  show 
that  4,379,636  persons  entered  these  regions  sub- 
sequently, so  that  we  may  reasonably  conclude 
that  at  the  time  of  the  Armistice  there  was  a  grand 
total  of  31,956,227  individuals  in  the  area  above 
referred  to  who  had  been  born  abroad  or  were  the 
children  of  either  a  foreign-born  father  or  foreign- 
born  mother. 

A  comparison  of  the  above  figures  with  popula- 
tion statistics  will  show  that  the  so-called  foreign 


Changes  in  Personnel  45 

population  of  the  combined  territory  thus  selected 
far  outnumbers  that  of  the  native-born,  and  pre- 
sents food  for  speculation  for  the  following  reasons. 

These  states  and  cities  number  among  them  the 
rallying  places  of  wealth  and  industry.  Setting 
aside  the  metropolis  which  provides  the  pulse  for 
economic  action,  they  include  Philadelphia,  Chi- 
cago, Detroit,  Pittsburg,  and  twenty  other  cities 
which  dominate  and  control  mighty  industries. 

They  include  Washington,  the  political  center 
of  the  country — great  ports  like  Boston,  Portland, 
Providence,  San  Francisco,  Galveston — and  agri- 
cultural regions  of  marvelous  fertility. 

They  include  the  mines,  the  ore  fields,  and  the 
commerce  of  the  Great  Lakes. 

And  last  but  not  least  they  include  the  great 
arteries  of  trade. 

So  important  are  these  regions,  and  so  well- 
known  are  their  resources  that  no  man  of  affairs, 
let  alone  a  military  man,  would  hesitate  to  refer 
to  them  in  answering  a  question  touching  the  areas 
which  would  be  most  attractive  to  the  commander 
of  an  invading  army. 

It  is  true  that  he  might  make  some  minor 
changes  in  the  above  tabulation,  but  who  doubts 
that  he  would  include  the  Atlantic  industrial  sea- 
board, the  Pacific  seaboard,  the  line  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  the  northern  Mississippi  Valley  and  the 
Great  Lakes.  With  these  states  and  cities  under 
control  an  enemy  would  absolutely  dominate  the 


46  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

country.  With  half  of  them  he  would  hold  it  in 
subjection.  With  a  quarter  of  them  well  chosen 
he  could  safely  initiate  what  would  promise  to  be  a 
victorious  campaign,  and  with  the  occupation  of  a 
small  but  selected  part  of  the  area  like  the  country 
within  three  hundred  miles  radius  of  New  York 
City,  he  would  have  a  better  footing  in  the  United 
States  than  the  Germans  ever  secured  in  France. 

This  is  assertion  to  be  sure — not  argument! 
I  take  it,  however,  that  it  is  the  sort  of  assertion 
that  is  accepted  without  attempt  at  rebuttal,  and 
shall  content  myself  with  providing  some  of  the 
data  which  is  available  regarding  the  personnel  of 
the  population  of  the  states  and  cities  in  hand. 
It  will  be  for  the  reader  to  decide  whether  the  major 
part  of  this  population  or  any  important  part  there- 
of is  inimical  to  the  institutions  of  the  United 
States  or  at  all  disposed  to  play  into  the  hands  of  a 
foeman,  and  again  whether  this  fact,  if  found  to  be 
true,  is  of  importance  in  view  of  the  suggestions 
already  ventured  upon. 

THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  POPULATION 

Now  that  we  have  discussed  the  number  of 
aliens  and  unassimilated  persons  in  the  United 
States,  it  behooves  us  to  briefly  consider  the  qual- 
ity of  these  sometime  strangers,  leaving  a  more 
careful  analysis  for  a  later  chapter. 

Up  to  the  year  1875  newcomers  to  the  United 


Changes  in  Personnel  47 

States  contained  a  fair  representation  of  the 
peoples  resident  in  Northern  Europe.  Many  were 
Celts  and  many  were  of  Germanic  origin,  but  the 
larger  part  had  been  in  some  sort  of  touch  with 
enlightened  governments. 

The  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century  saw 
an  astonishing  change.  Commencing  with  an 
exodus  from  the  south  of  Italy  and  Austria,  the 
tidal  movement  toward  America  drew  heavily  on 
Russia,  and  made  itself  felt  in  various  parts  of  the 
Empire  of  Turkey  and  Persia. 

When  the  war  came  we  were  receiving  immi- 
grants from  the  Central  Plateaux  of  Asia,  and  in- 
defatigable steamship  agents  with  no  interest  in 
the  United  States  were  searching  the  mountain  fast- 
nesses of  Armenia  and  Afghanistan  for  any  sort  of 
a  customer  who  would  help  them  to  a  commission. 

Much  of  the  material  which  these  human 
scavengers  scraped  together  and  dug  up  for  the 
digestion  of  America  is  of  a  character  that  excites 
pity  rather  than  self-congratulation.  It  does  not 
take  much  thinking  to  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
such  accessions  to  our  population  are  altogether 
undesirable.  They  include  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  peasants  who  have  failed  to  make  good  at  home, 
or  are  sick  and  ailing. 

These  persons  through  over-persuasion  were 
induced  to  sell  such  property  as  they  had  in  Europe 
or  Asia  and  start  for  an  earthly  paradise  in  this 
country.  Just  before  the  war  thousands  of  them 


48  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

could  at  any  time  be  found  stranded  in  our  ports 
without  sufficient  means  to  provide  for  their 
support. 

The  cutting  off  of  immigration  and  the  employ- 
ment in  war  industries  for  a  time  has  diverted 
public  attention  from  these  victims  of  greed,  but  if 
an  exhaustive  inquiry  could  be  made,  we  would 
find  that  a  fair  proportion  of  such  persons  are 
accommodated  in  our  public  institutions,  or  give 
color  to  the  vagabond  flotsam  and  jetsam  that 
drifts  between  our  cities.  Very  few  people,  in  spite 
of  the  fervid  representations  of  platform  orators, 
are  inclined  to  think  of  such  derelicts  as  in  any  way 
resembling  the  men  and  women  who  colonized 
the  United  States,  or  as  having  anything  in  com- 
mon with  the  latter.  They  may  better  be  com- 
pared to  the  unfortunate  individual  in  the  parable 
who  was  set  upon  by  thieves  and  left  to  perish. 
Such  cases  call  for  our  commiseration  which  may 
be  the  more  heartfelt  because  the  whole  people  of 
the  United  States  are  materially  affected  by  the 
original  fraud. 

Notwithstanding  this  fact  up  to  the  present 
time  the  Nation  has  been  blind  to  the  injury  done 
itself.  Indeed  it  has  encouraged  it.  This  is  con- 
firmed by  a  pronouncement  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court — (Mr.  Justice  McLean  in  7  How- 
ard, 401) — which  in  1848  in  commenting  upon 
foreign  immigration  states  that  the  latter  was  "a 
cherished  policy  of  the  government  at  the  time  the 


Changes  in  Personnel  49 

Constitution  was  adopted,"  and  adds — "As  a 
branch  of  commerce,  transportation  of  passengers 
has  always  given  a  profitable  employment  to  our 
ships,  and  within  a  few  years  past  has  acquired  an 
amount  of  tonnage  nearly  equal  to  that  of  im- 
ported merchandise." 

What  was  recited  to  be  government  policies 
nearly  seventy-five  years  ago  by  an  eminent  au- 
thority has  remained  true  as  far  as  regards  the 
importation  of  immigrants.  No  administration 
seems  to  have  cared  sufficiently  as  to  its  character 
to  revise  the  methods  used  in  securing  the  trans- 
shipments of  human  beings,  and  the  one  point  that 
all  administrations  have  had  in  mind  has  been  the 
desirability  of  keeping  the  gates  open  and  encour- 
aging steamship  lines  which  have  taken  in  hand 
this  sort  of  traffic. 

The  matter  thus  discussed  brings  home  to  us 
the  fact  that  there  are  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
persons  among  the  great  multitudes  which  have 
colonized  the  fairest  part  of  our  country  who  are 
both  physically  and  mentally  lacking  in  the  quali- 
ties which  have  made  Americans  respected.  But 
it  is  not  permitted  us  to  stop  here.  Otherwise  we 
might  draw  the  conclusions  that  things  are  not  as 
bad  as  they  actually  are. 

Let  us  now  turn  from  consideration  of  that  part 
of  the  incoming  multitude  which  has  been  parti- 
cularly under  observation  and  which  has  been  led 
to  entrain  for  America  through  devious  advices 


50  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

and  note  certain  truths  regarding  the  whole  body. 
These  may  be  briefly  treated  under  the  following 
heads : 

1.  Political  antecedents. 

2.  Language. 

3.  Racial  characteristics. 

Political  Antecedents 

Until  quite  recently  the  people  of  the  United 
States  have  known  exceedingly  little  about  the 
countries  of  Eastern  Europe.  They  have  discussed 
Russia,  they  have  known  about  the  squabbles  in 
the  Balkan  States,  they  have  been  acquainted  in  a 
missionary  way  with  Turkey,  and  they  have  had  a 
general  impression  that  governments  of  these  great 
areas  were  arbitrary  and  tyrannical.  At  the  same 
time  it  never  seemed  to  occur  to  them,  although 
they  have  been  informed  in  regard  to  the  general 
spread  of  nihilism  and  anarchy,  that  persons  emi- 
grating from  such  countries  to  the  United  States 
would  be  slow  to  understand  our  institutions. 

The  facts  are  as  follows: 

Nearly  all  the  people  who  have  come  to  us  re- 
cently acknowledge  sires  who  for  hundreds,  if  not 
thousands,  of  years  have  been  subject  to  iron  rule, 
if  they  were  not  bondmen.  Here  and  there  they 
have  lived  in  communities  which  have  enjoyed  a 
certain  amount  of  liberty.  In  these  cases  exactions 
for  taxation,  etc.,  have  rendered  them  far  from 


Changes  in  Personnel  51 

happy.  As  a  result  their  spirits  are  embittered  by 
long  continued  suffering.  It  is  a  tradition  with 
them  that  monarchs  and  governors  are  disposed  to 
cruel  requirements,  and  either  lack  a  sense  of 
mercy  or  fail  to  know  anything  of  the  sufferings  of 
their  subjects.  They  have  been  in  accord  in  be- 
lieving that  those  to  whom  they  owed  allegiance 
are  responsible  for  their  tribulations  whether  real 
or  fancied.  It  has  been  born  into  their  bone 
therefore  to  hate  authority  and  to  conspire  against 
those  in  power.  Evidences  of  this  hatred  were 
patent  a  thousand  years  ago  in  Southern  Italy, 
in  Austria,  and  in  Russia.  Since  the  period  of 
Mazzini  it  has  pushed  organization  to  the  limit, 
laid  revolutionary  wires,  and  started  the  fire  which 
now  consumes  and  threatens  the  whole  world. 

The  persons  under  consideration  came  into  New 
York,  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  Galveston  with 
great  rage  in  their  hearts  against  authority.  This 
is  glossed  over  with  certain  sentimentalism  in 
regard  to  the  land  of  freedom  which  is  only  ex- 
plained by  the  fact  that  they  know  nothing  of 
freedom  and  imagine  it  to  be  an  exalted  sort  of 
license.  They  are  innoculated  with  Marxian 
philosophy,  despise  religion,  are  impatient  of  re- 
straint, timid  in  the  face  of  the  police,  although, 
like  dogs  that  have  been  whipped,  they  dread  the 
hand  of  a  master.  All  this  is  perfectly  natural  and 
possibly  tragic. 

Such  has  been  the  political  past  of  the  multitude 


52  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

whose  hostile  camps  are  now  wide  flung  across  the 
Republic.  Children  of  misfortune  (I  speak  of 
those  who  do  not  assimilate),  they  are,  far  less 
able  to  comprehend  democracy  with  its  balanced 
obligations  and  privileges  than  a  desert  nomad  who 
enjoys  freedom  under  tribal  restraint. 

I  can  conceive  of  a  shipmaster  so  distraught  with 
liquor  as  to  invite  a  pirate  crew  to  work  his  ship 
because  they  will  accept  a  small  wage,  or  solicit 
cholera  victims  for  passengers  at  a  remunerative 
head  tax — but  I  cannot  comprehend  the  action  of 
a  free  people  (however  commercialized),  which 
hazards  the  stability  of  its  government  for  the  sake 
of  temporary  gain,  the  real  motive  behind  induced 
immigration. 

Language 

Montesquieu  cites  virtue  and  education  as 
essential  characteristics  of  a  democracy.  Shrewd 
prophet  as  he  was  he  could  not  foresee  conditions 
with  which  Americans  have  to  do,  and  therefore 
left  out  intercommunication — a  factor  which  I  have 
no  hesitation  in  declaring  to  be  the  fundamental 
necessity  in  a  free  Commonwealth.  It  is  presum- 
able that  looking  over  the  Europe  of  his  time  and 
reading  the  accounts  of  such  voyagers  in,  foreign 
parts  as  Marco  Polo  and  his  ilk,  the  French  Philo- 
sopher came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Almighty 
had  effectually  separated  the  peoples  of  the  globe 


Changes  in  Personnel  53 

when  he  dispersed  the  builders  of  the  Tower  of 
Babel.  It  is  more  probable  that  he  never  conceived 
of  a  situation  so  gravely  distracting  as  that  which 
confronts  America.  How  could  he?  Up  to  his 
time  and  long  after  civilized  peoples  were  jealous 
of  their  prestige  and  possessions.  Rome,  as  long 
as  it  retained  any  national  sense,  granted  citizen- 
ship to  conquered  peoples  of  various  tongues,  but 
maintained  an  iron  grip  on  its  own  affairs,  eco- 
nomic as  well  as  political.  Again  and  again  feudal 
leaders  or  governments  brought  tribal  aggrega- 
tions, speaking  different  languages,  under  their 
sway,  but  always,  as  in  the  case  of  Charles  the 
Fifth  they  retained  the  whip  hand.  That  it  was 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  men  would  continue 
to  safeguard  their  own  selfish  interests  is  indicated 
by  the  policies  of  a  few  American  employers  who 
put  profit  before  patriotism,  and  hold  their  for- 
eign-speaking employees  in  a  state  of  peonage. 
Meanwhile  times  have  changed  vastly.  Men  of 
Anglo-Saxon  stock  welcoming  to  their  sides  the  free 
souls  of  every  race,  and  building  upon  earlier  foun- 
dations, made  democracy  practical,  tried  out  and 
tested  the  rules  laid  down  by  Montesquieu — found 
them  good — and  then  through  lust  for  conquest 
and  accumulation  kicked  over  their  noble  creation 
—and  in  search  of  cheap  labor  brought  about 
heterogeneous  conditions  that  no  healthy  imagina- 
tion of  the  seventeenth  century  could  visualize. 
These  conditions  confront  us  to-day  and  force 


54  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

upon  our  notice  the  primary  truth  that  however 
essential  virtue  may  be  in  a  democracy,  those  who 
have  these  possessions  cannot  transmit  them  to 
others  not  trained  in  the  same  school  or  to  poster- 
ity without  a  medium  for  intercourse. 

Consideration  of  this  fact  in  the  light  of  our 
many  tongued  population  ought  to  produce  reflec- 
tion and  emergency  action,  for  it  both  explains 
in  part  the  present  drift  from  old  standards  and 
points  to  an  early  snuffing  out  of  a  people's 
government  in  the  United  States. 

Look  at  the  map  of  New  York  City  which  is 
attached  to  the  recent  report  of  the  Lusk  Com- 
mission, and  note  the  checkerboard  effect  produced 
by  the  flocking  together  of  people  speaking  various 
tongues.  A  replica  of  this  exists  not  only  in  the 
larger  cities  of  the  country  but  in  thousands  of 
towns — while  Russian,  Bohemian,  Italian,  Polish, 
and  other  foreign-language  villages  hold  their  own 
with  English-speaking  hamlets  and  community 
centers.  The  politician  with  Russian,  Bohemian, 
Italian,  Polish,  etc.,  heelers  can  handle  the  people 
who  dwell  in  these  segregated  colonies,  but  the 
statesman  with  an  American  soul  and  tongue 
cannot.  They  can  be  reached  by  the  cunning  prop- 
agandist and  by  the  agents  of  foreign  states  to 
forward  selfish  aspirations,  but  they  are  out  of 
communication  with  the  better  mind  of  the  Nation, 
State  and  community.  They  are  also  out  of  touch 
with  each  other.  In  the  "good  old  times"  we  had 


Changes  in  Personnel  55 

vicious  and  difficult  persons  and  cults  to  handle 
in  America,  but  we  talked  "good  United  States" 
to  these  and  either  won  them  over  or  set  the  time 
for  them  to  march  by.  To-day  we  are  not  over- 
proud  of  some  millions  of  degenerates  who  speak 
English,  but  we  have  no  way  of  finding  out  about 
the  vice  that  is  hidden  in  great  aggregations  of 
people  who  use  a  different  speech  from  our  own, 
and  no  way  of  telling  a  very  fair  proportion  of 
our  whole  population  the  things  which  it  is  for 
their  interest  and  for  our  interest  that  they  should 
know. 

Pitiful,  is  it  not? 

a — A  draft  comes  in  war  time. 

The  returns,  because  there  is  not  right  intercourse 
between  the  Provost  Marshal  General's  agents 
and  the  draftees,  include  the  names  of  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  men  who  have  been  wrongly  called  or 
who  have  no  understanding  of  the  issue  before  the 
nations. 

b — Mobilization  commences.  The  officers  can- 
not communicate  with  a  fair  percentage  of  their 
troops. 

c — Innumerable  strikes  occur  here,  there,  and 
everywhere.  They  would  never  transpire  if  the 
striker  knew  the  real  status.  The  employer  has  no 
way  of  reaching  employees — they  use  other  lan- 
guages. The  police,  perhaps  the  military,  is  called 
out.  The  club  and  the  musket  are  the  only  in- 
telligible means  of  communication. 


56  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

d — A  great  and  serious  exigency  arises.  Not 
a  person  in  the  country  but  is  involved,  but 
the  ugly  fact  stares  us  in  the  face  that  it  is  in 
the  last  analysis  an  English-speaking  issue.  The 
Russians,  Greeks,  Poles,  Lithuanians,  Armenians, 
Italians,  Bohemians,  Slovaks,  Hungarians,  Portu- 
guese, and  people  of  sixty  other  tongues  do  not 
know  it  has  arisen,  or  get  the  viewpoint  of  the 
padrone. 

Such  are  some  of  the  difficulties  produced  by  the 
great  American  experiment  in  the  composition  of  a 
hotchpot,  which  is  a  stew,  and  not  the  recepta- 
cle of  which  so  much  is  spoken,  viz. — a  melting 
pot. 

The  cave  man  might  have  blushed  at  such  condi- 
tions. He  certainly  would  not  have  put  out  many 
ventures  until  he  had  found  some  gibberish  with 
which  to  pass  his  thought  to  his  contemporaries. 
That  is  where  the  cave  man  can  bear  comparison 
with  the  product  of  evolution.  (I  am  permitted  to 
speak  about  the  cave  man  with  some  confidence 
because  of  the  remarkable  pictures  which  our 
scientific  investigators  and  educators  have  given 
us  of  this  biped.)  Meantime  I  doubt  if  he,  or  any 
of  his  successors,  had  to  do  with  such  a  problem  as 
America  has  set  for  itself,  viz.,  the  impossible  task 
of  maintaining  a  free  government  in  the  midst  of 
a  population  which  is  ignorant  of  the  standards 
upon  which  the  said  government  is  based,  and  does 
not  understand  its  requirements. 


Changes  in  Personnel  57 

Racial 

A  great  English  Nobleman  went  on  record  re- 
cently as  believing  that  the  one  requirement  of  the 
hour  was  a  sense  of  racial  characteristics.  If  I 
understand  him  rightly  the  most  intelligent  diplo- 
mats are  failing,  as  they  always  have  failed,  to  take 
into  consideration  those  vital  differences  which  dis- 
tinguish varying  species  of  the  genus  homo.  These 
gentlemen  study  virtues,  vices,  aspirations,  and 
motives  of  nations  to  which  they  are  commissioned 
and  yet  fail  to  get  beneath  the  surface,  because 
they  ignore  racial  whims  and  antipathies.  The  fact 
makes  it  difficult  to  secure  concord  in  international 
matters,  and  frequently  is  the  prime  cause  of  war. 

What  is  true  of  the  shortcomings  of  ambassadors 
and  legation  chiefs  is  of  course  true  of  peoples  and 
of  the  units  that  make  up  peoples  who  are  without 
experience  in  international  relations.  When  the 
master  in  an  art  fails,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the 
rank  and  file  fail  also.  I  comment  upon  this 
passing  remark  of  a  distinguished  personage  be- 
cause it  brings  out  two  things — the  separateness 
of  the  races — and  the  amazing  manner  in  which 
they  disregard  each  other's  idiosyncrasies.  Both 
facts  are  of  much  significance  to  America,  because 
in  becoming  a  haven  for  every  people,  it  has  col- 
lected a  larger  variety  of  races  in  many  of  its  thickly 
settled  sections  than  were  ever  brought  together 
before,  and  is  apt  to  be  embarrassed  if  it  cannot 


58  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

learn  how  to  make  them  join  in  the  national  chorus 
without  punctuating  their  music  with  discords. 

One  would  suppose  that  the  English-speaking 
part  of  our  people,  — recalling  the  difficulty  which 
the  Southern  slaveholder  had  in  understanding  the 
viewpoint  of  the  Northern  Abolitionist  and  vice 
versa,  the  antagonisms  between  those  who  be- 
cause of  interest  favored  or  disapproved  of  a 
National  Bank,  and  the  strife  between  the  friends 
and  foes  of  the  tariff — would  realize  the  dilemma 
in  which  they  are  placed  by  this  extraordinary  ex- 
periment in  racial  agglomeration.  If  they  do,  I 
have  found  no  sign  of  it.  Meantime  the  coming  to 
America  is  not  going  to  cure  the  Englishman  of  his 
self-satisfaction — the  Italian  of  his  sensitiveness — 
the  Celt  of  his  mercurial  qualities — the  Russian 
peasant  of  his  stolidity — the  Swede  of  his  selfish- 
ness— or  the  Hungarian  of  his  volatile  energy. 
Neither  is  the  crossing  of  the  seas  going  to  elimi- 
nate the  predilections  which  each  racial  group  has 
for  approaching  every  other  group  on  the  wrong 
side.  The  State  may  reel  because  of  outward  pres- 
sure or  through  a  failure  to  understand  and 
accommodate  itself  to  economic  law.  Social  ques- 
tions affecting  the  welfare  of  each  unit  in  the  coun- 
try may  compel  due  consideration,  and  Liberty 
with  its  back  to  the  wall  may  implore  assistance. 
Nothing  but  Almighty  Providence  is  going  to  do 
away  with  the  racial  jealousies  which  will  make  it 
difficult  for  the  nation  to  mobilize  its  strength. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   CITIZENRY 

RECENT  chapters  have  dealt  with  aliens  in 
America.  Let  us  now  consider  the  citizenry 
of  the  country.  That  it  is  led  by  resourceful  men 
whose  achievements  are  marvelous  in  the  field  of 
commerce  and  service  is  generally  acknowledged. 
So  is  the  fact  that  it  is  loyal,  capable  of  developing 
great  power,  and  absorbed  in  trade  or  anything 
but  its  own  future.  Unfortunately,  however,  the 
present  demands  aggressive  leaders  of  great  poli- 
tical sagacity  and  citizens  whose  first  thought  is 
for  the  democracy. 

I  am  disposed  to  say  that  the  Republic  has 
neither,  but  fearing  lest  this  may  seem  an  over- 
statement and  unfair  to  some  of  our  elder  states- 
men or  to  the  many  generous  souls  who  share  the 
apprehension  of  any  honest  investigator,  I  prefer 
to  speak  more  prudently.  This  then  is  my  asser- 
tion. The  Republic  does  not  appear  to  have 
enough  virile  leaders  or  enough  informed  and  right- 
minded  citizens  to  save  it.  This  reflects  despond- 
ency, but  it  is  despondency  that  springs  from  logic. 

59 


6o  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

Nothing  but  a  miracle  can  turn  the  tide  which  is 
now  pushing  away  from  every  democratic  stand- 
ard. Meantime  I  cannot  forget  that  we  have 
known  miracles  in  our  recent  national  life.  Take 
the  successful  draft  as  an  instance!  Nothing  in 
scriptural  story  which  excites  the  ridicule  of 
agnostics  will  compare  with  the  successful  mobil- 
izing of  an  army  containing  many  millions,  out  of 
the  disloyal  as  well  as  the  loyal,  aliens  as  well  as 
citizens,  cowards  as  well  as  the  brave,  haters  of 
country  as  well  as  patriots.  If  an  overruling 
Providence  could  do  that,  he  can  do  anything  out- 
side of  the  field  of  human  reason  or  experience. 
Meantime  it  is  for  us  to  face  things  as  they  are, 
never  overlooking  the  high-minded  and  finely  bred 
men,  sometimes  of  small  means,  sometimes  of  con- 
secrateS  wealth,  who  know  and  perform  their  per- 
sonal responsibilities.  Their  number  is  legion, 
but  they  are  so  much  in  the  minority  that  their 
influence  is  lost.' 

This  is  what  we  find  too  commonly : 
I.  Abundant  multi-millionaires  whose  pur- 
suits are  social  or  along  business  lines,  but  who 
rely  upon  their  secretaries  or  the  secretaries  of  their 
secretaries  to  tell  them  what  their  public  obliga- 
tions are,  and  to  perform  them.  They  may  not 
err  in  a  matter  of  etiquette  even  if  their  honest 
parents  were  more  familiar  with  places  in  which 
unskilled  but  respectable  labor  congregates,  than 
with  drawing  rooms.  They  may  not  miss  a  grand 


The  Citizenry  61 

scoop  in  four  out  of  seven  preposterously  magnifi- 
cent enterprises,  but  they  are  shamefully  ignorant 
of  things  that  every  citizen  should  know  himself  and 
do  himself. 

2.  Working  the  will  of  these  men,  or  those  of 
them  that  find  their  movements  modified  by  police 
ordinances  or  legislative  enactments  are  clouds  of 
politicians.   Some  of  these  are  corrupt  or  crooked- 
most  of  them  are  well-meaning — but  nearly  all  of 
them  are  strangled  with  the  machinery  they  have 
set  up.    With  their  followers  they  make  a  very 
large  class.    They  are  not  uninformed  as  to  history. 
On  the  stump  they  cut  quite  a  figure.    They  can 
be  relied  upon  to  exalt  the  United  States,  to 
provide  sounding  perorations  for  a  speech,   to 
sacrifice  much  in  a  time  when  the  nation  is  threat- 
ened ;  but  very,  very  few  have  the  time  or  capacity 
to  sense  the  nation's  peril  in  advance.    They  may 
be  compared  to  a  suppositious  group  of  surveyors 
which  runs  its  chains  and  takes  its  bearings  on  a 
glacier,  in  dismal  ignorance  of  the  fact  that  time 
and  gravitation  will  junk  its  accomplishments. 

3.  Lastly  there  are  the  masses;  exquisites  from 
whom  society  will  never  disembarrass  itself,  and 
who  are  merely  non-fertile  flowers,  who  are  rather 
inclined  to  patronize  their  fellows,  but  who  are 
negligible ;  the  bourgeois  with  its  greed  for  trade ; 
those  who  work  with  their  hands;  some  patriots; 
men  who  speculate  in  political  experiments;  the 
ignorant;  the  virtuous;  and  a  growing  contingent 


62  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

of  miserables  made  up  of  the  flotsam  and  jetsam 
of  humanity's  wreckage.  The  masses!  Every- 
where a  hotchpot  of  everything  which  is  stolid, 
erratic,  and  commonplace.  Everywhere  an  ulti- 
mate and  determining  element  in  the  political 
sphere ! 

Let  us  give  them  the  attention  they  deserve  in 
this  country — for  after  all  it  is  they  who  in  sound- 
ing phrase  pronounce  themselves  to  be — "We  the 
people  of  the  United  States."  Therefore  they  will 
be  the  ones  who  are  to  decide  whether  they  will  be 
patronized  by  the  very  rich,  controlled  by  a  politi- 
cal or  economic  machine,  directed  by  classes  in 
their  own  personnel,  or  will  themselves  dictate 
national  policies. 

Over  one  hundred  and  thirty  years  ago  they 
ordained  and  established  a  Constitution  for  the 
following  purposes,  viz.,  "To  form  a  more  perfect 
union,  establish  justice,  assure  domestic  tranquil- 
lity, provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote  the 
general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty." 

Are  these  their  objects  now?  I  do  not  find  that 
they  are.  Therefore  I  conclude,  believing  "that 
as  a  man  thinks  in  his  heart  so  is  he" — that  unless 
Americans  secure  new  light  or  reaffirm  old  formu- 
las they  will  hardly  be  regarded  in  the  next  decade 
as  constituting  a  democracy  or  the  sort  of  a  democ- 
racy which  they  hold  themselves  out  to  be. 

What  then  are  they?  A  body  politic !  Everyone 
will  agree  to  that.  What  sort  of  a  body  politic? 


The  Citizenry  63 

That  is  more  difficult.  Classes  among  them  (I 
shall  have  something  to  say  of  these  hereafter) 
have  widely  varying  opinions  of  what  this  Nation 
ought  to  be,  if  not  as  to  what  it  is,  and  since  they 
articulate  the  thought  of  millions,  should  have  a 
hearing.  Of  these  classes  the  sociologists,  who 
regard  the  State  as  a  panacea  for  every  ill,  may 
fairly  claim  that  we  are  a  socialistic  entity  in  the 
course  of  evolution — they  include  in  their  ranks  a 
great  number  of  pedagogues,  and  have  a  particular 
hold  upon  the  coming  generation.  Therefore  their 
assertions,  taken  together  with  the  obvious  fact 
that  socialistic  machinery  has  been  installed  in 
many  Federal  and  State  departments,  deserve 
careful  consideration. 

Opposed  to  them,  and  to  everyone  but  them- 
selves, is  the  labor  group  as  represented  by  certain 
of  its  organizations.  They  are  apparently  for  a 
government  which  shall  be  managed  by  labor  men 
in  such  a  way  as  to  require  from  all  persons  who 
work  with  their  hands  a  modicum  of  work  and 
much  emolument.  They  have  power,  but  will 
probably  modify  their  doctrine  as  it  appears  hope- 
lessly exclusive. 

No  less  selfish  than  these,  but  unorganized,  are  the 
reactionaries,  who  are  faint  with  the  struggle  for  self- 
government.  As  yet  they  have  not  found  a  voice 
which  is  apart  from  the  platitudes  of  their  chiefs 
who  do  not  think  of  themselves  as  being  reckoned 
among  the  masses,  and  who  are  always  for  a  system 


'64  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

that  will  maintain  order  without  interfering  with 
the  personal  plans  not  of  the  people  but  of  the  elect. 
It  will  be  recognized  that  this  class  is  potent  in 
affairs  because  of  wealth  and  prestige,  but  of  little 
consequence  when  it  comes  to  numbers  and  votes. 
They  share  with  the  old  style  constitutionalists 
the  credit  of  making  much  noise,  but  of  being  of 
little  consequence  when  one  is  anxious  to  know  what 
the  people  are  saying — What  God  wills.  If  there 
were  more  of  them  we  should  have  a  plutocracy. 

I  refrain  from  commenting  on  the  constitution- 
alists. It  is  enough  to  say  that  they  are  not  in 
fashion  when  it  comes  to  practical  politics,  and 
that  while  their  aphorisms  are  listened  to  with 
patience  and  have  become  part  of  the  vernacular, 
they  are  so  utterly  out  of  gear  with  modern  senti- 
ment and  motives  as  to  give  the  impression  of 
archaic  specimens,  the  fossilized  remnant  of  for- 
gotten periods. 

There  remain  the  proletariat — now  masquerad- 
ing as  advocates  of  communism — the  crushing  out 
of  the  individual — the  harsh  rule  of  the  State — 
and  the  weltering  orgy  of  blood  that  must  precede 
the  elimination  of  God  and  the  concept  of  God  from 
human  affairs.  Fierce — lawless — vindictive — this 
class,  ever  growing  in  size  and  in  impudence — 
second  to  none  in  giving  itself  expression — some- 
times in  the  newspaper  paragraphs,  sometimes  in 
the  printed  circular,  sometimes  in  direct  friction 
with  the  authorities,  but  always  cunningly  ap- 


The  Citizenry  65 

pealing  to  the  disaffected — advertises  its  views  and 
serves  notice  on  the  public  that  it  is  providing 
machinery — a  too  apparent  fact — by  which  it  may 
impose  its  will  upon  the  community. 

Here  then  are  some  of  the  notes  which  the  Amer- 
ican people  are  sounding  through  clearly  defined 
classes.  Each  is  supposed  to  reflect  a  theory  of 
government,  and  does  at  least  give  a  fairly  definite 
impression  regarding  the  faith  of  those  responsible 
for  it.  Taken  together  they  make  a  discord  and 
little  more  at  present. 

Meantime  there  is  a  public  outside  these  classes, 
the  bourgeois  before  referred  to,  which  is  very 
large,  very  smug,  very  well-conditioned,  but  which 
does  not  think  politically  at  all.  Therefore  it  has 
nothing  to  say  for  itself  along  such  lines.  Morning, 
noon,  and  night  this  public  thinks  business.  It 
goes  to  church — it  attends  political  rallies — it 
amuses  itself — but  all  the  time  it  is  working  out 
commercial  problems  of  the  factory  and  the  shop. 

If  any  composite  picture  of  the  American  people 
were  possible,  this  public  body  of  citizens  which 
identifies  itself  with  no  class,  would  furnish  the 
marked  characteristics  because  of  its  size,  the 
intensity  of  its  absorption  in  that  which  has  caught 
its  attention,  and  its  virility.  It  is  needless  to  add 
that  the  picture  would  depict  a  commercial,  not  a 
political  entity. 

Mixed  with  the  cliques  in  one  great  and  amazing 
stew,  the  same  public  would  be  sure  to  flavor  and 


66  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

give  a  trade  color  to  the  whole.  An  appreciation 
of  these  facts  by  everyone  explains  why  Americans 
are  known  in  Occident  and  Orient  as  a  commercial 
people.  Some  units  in  this  business  hotchpot 
talk  anarchy,  some  the  proletariat,  some  socialism, 
some  autocracy — but  all  of  them  talk  trade  and 
dollars. 

Shall  we  not  conclude  then  in  answer  to  a  fore- 
going question  that  we  are  not  only  a  body  politic, 
but  that  we  are  a  conglomerate  body  politic  which 
aspires  to  burst  the  cerements  of  the  chrysalis  and 
become  a  body  economic  pure  and  simple. 

What  this  latter  conception  is  I  doubt  if  anyone 
can  state — 

1.  Because  we  cannot  conceive  of  an  organism 
for  the  production  and  distribution  of  wealth 
which  would  eliminate  man;  and 

2.  Because,  if  we  recognize  man  as  submitting 
to  or  directing  government,  we  continue  to  have  a 
body  politic. 

Perhaps  it  will  be  enough  to  say  regarding  our 
contemplated  object  as  a  nation,  that  "we  don't 
know  where  we  are  going  but  we  are  on  the  way," 
with  a  cheerful  feeling  that  when  we  arrive  we  shall 
find  no  politicians  but  much  and  cheerful  industry. 
Meantime  if  we  scrutinize  our  conglomerate  body 
politic  it  will  not  develop  much  cause  for  content- 
ment. There  is  the  shell  of  democracy — the 
motions — the  formulas — and  certain  functioning 
of  election  machinery.  The  wheels  spin  when 


The  Citizenry  67 

wound  up  as  they  whirr  about  in  a  resurrected 
timepiece  that  long  since  retired  from  duty,  but  it 
is  perfectly  apparent  to  everyone  that  something 
vital  has  been  discarded.  In  a  democracy  the 
people  have  political  ideas  which  they  assert  and 
defend.  If  there  are  too  many  persons  in  the 
State  to  make  it  possible  for  individuals  to  get  a 
hearing,  then  a  representative  government  is 
installed  as  in  the  United  States,  and  these  repre- 
sentatives are  supposed  to  reflect  the  will  of  the 
people  in  legislation  and  administration. 

Now  there  has  been  an  assertion  of  political  ideas 
in  the  United  States  which  fairly  represented  the 
people.  That  was  long,  long  ago!  It  is  to  be 
doubted  if  the  majority  of  living  citizens  are  loyal 
to  these  ideas,  if  they  know  them.  It  would  not 
be  surprising  to  learn  that  some  ten  million  at  least 
were  without  any  intelligible  notion  in  regard  to 
what  they  are,  and  ten  million  is  quite  a  number 
when  it  is  remembered  that  our  actual  body  of 
citizens  is  only  a  fractional  part  of  the  population. 

When  it  comes  to  representation,  I  am  in  doubt. 
Voting  as  I  have  seen  it  (perhaps  it  is  inevitable 
where  great  concourses  are  concerned)  is  perfunc- 
tory and  without  significance.  Representatives 
are  elected,  but  if  they  are  not  the  tools  of  cliques, 
it  is  because  something  is  wrong  with  the  elaborate 
political  machinery  that  brings  their  merits  to  the 
attention  of  their  fellow-citizens. 

While  there  is  not  much  therefore  in  this  coun- 


68  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

try  to  suggest  democracy  as  popularly  understood, 
there  is  a  little.  This  modicum  unfortunately 
appears  to  vanish  when  the  so-called  machinery 
of  democracy  attempts  to  function  so  as  to  express 
the  will  of  the  people.  That  is  rarely  given.  In- 
stead we  have  the  voice  of  the  welfare  workers,  as 
long  as  they  keep  step  with  the  powers,  the  voice 
of  the  classes,  and  the  voice  of  the  rather  silly  but 
quite  self-sufficient  gentlemen  who  believe  they  are 
managing  everything  for  us,  and  of  whom  here- 
after. 

It  appears  then  we  have  a  citizenry,  somewhat 
divided,  somewhat  perplexed  when  it  comes  to  the 
decision  of  great  issues,  and  fearfully  engrossed  in 
the  hoarding  of  much  money.  It  also  appears 
that  this  citizenry  is  organized  into  a  body  politic 
which  resembles  or  once  resembled  a  democracy, 
but  which  probably  is  not  a  democracy. 


CHAPTER  VI 

INCENDIARY  APPEAL 

THE  United  States  maintains  an  executive,  an 
army,  and  legal  machinery  for  the  investigation 
of  activities  which  threaten  its  life.  The  cities 
and  towns  of  the  various  States  are  provided  with 
officers  and  constables  for  ordinary  police  protec- 
tion, and  a  few  States  have  constabularies,  none 
of  which  contain  more  than  a  few  hundred  men. 

I  do  not  know  of  any  provision  by  which  these 
corrective  and  protective  forces  can  be  co-ordi- 
nated and  used  to  advantage  in  the  beginnings  of 
any  revolutionary  movement  whether  sectional  or 
national.  Therefore  their  value  is  problematical 
for  any  other  purpose  than  the  limited  one  in  which 
they  are  at  present  functioning. 

It  is  otherwise  with  the  self -avowed  enemy  of 
the  existing  government — the  so-called  proletariat. 
Avowedly  secret,  and  unfettered  by  such  rules  of 
honor  as  are  recognized  by  society,  the  revolution- 
ary group  not  only  possesses  an  executive  com- 
mittee which  concentrates  upon  one  terrible  object, 
but  it  is  geared  up  with  the  great  masses  of  those 

69 


70  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

whom  it  represents  through  numberless  com- 
mittees and  sub-committees  which  are  alert  in 
transmitting  its  instructions. 

On  the  side  of  ordered  liberty  there  is  a  marked 
lack  of  solidarity;  division  of  interests  which 
creates  internal  jealousies  and  bad  feeling;  absorp- 
tion in  trade,  and  a  thousand  minor  distractions; 
and  in  the  place  of  machinery  to  work  its  will, 
various  uninstalled  parts,  steering  apparatus,  en- 
gine, running  gear — some  of  these  highly  perfected, 
but  all  unassembled,  and  of  little  more  use  than 
junk. 

On  the  side  of  communism,  which  would  assas- 
sinate freedom  and  progress — a  defined  purpose, 
concentration,  passionate  devotion  to  a  cause, 
freedom  from  all  moral  restraint,  and  installed  and 
co-ordinated  machinery  which  is  specially  designed 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  its  problem. 

I  am  making  a  somewhat  bald  statement  of  these 
facts  in  the  hope  that  it  will  produce  the  sort  of 
discussion  that  is  the  basis  of  reform. 

There  may  be  those  who  will  doubt  the  propriety 
of  frankly  calling  attention  to  our  unprepared- 
ness  as  a  nation  to  forestall  the  machinations  of 
those  who  conspire  against  its  life.  I  do  not  think 
there  are  any  who  will  deny  that  there  are  sub- 
stantial bodies  of  persons  dissatisfied  with  the 
political  system  under  which  we  live  and  who  are 
organized  to  destroy  it. 

To  my  mind  the  latter  truth  not  only  justifies  a 


Incendiary  Appeal  71 

citizen  in  calling  attention  to  our  national  short- 
comings, but  compels  such  action.  This  explains 
the  recording  of  the  following  fact.  I  have  fre- 
quently sought  in  disturbed  times,  and  on  behalf 
of  men  of  recognized  ability,  to  secure  such  cor- 
rective action  on  the  part  of  public  officials  as 
would  prevent  lawless  demonstrations — but  with- 
out effect.  While  it  is  true  that  these  have  never 
lacked  sympathy  and  have  never  traversed  my 
allegations,  it  is  also  true  that  they  have  never  felt 
that  it  was  for  them,  or  the  particular  one  of  them 
to  whom  I  addressed  myself,  to  do  any  specific 
thing  in  the  premises.  There  was  a  time  when 
the  nation  was  at  war  when  it  looked  as  if 
something,  even  if  inadequate,  would  be  done  to 
modify  an  obvious  peril,  and  when  I  was  in  a  posi- 
tion for  a  little  to  help  make  some  sort  of  tempo- 
rary provision  for  this  particular  exigency,  which 
could  have  been  utilized  by  the  Executive  through 
the  military  authorities.  Even  then  when  German 
propaganda  had  the  will  and  money  to  make  inter- 
nal trouble  for  the  United  States  it  was  next  to 
impossible  to  get  the  official  ear,  and  impracticable 
to  secure  interdepartmental  co-operation  in  the 
interest  of  internal  order. 

With  this  word  of  explanation  for  those  who  are 
critically  inclined  I  am  going  to  hazard  the  state- 
ment that  no  government  can  live  that  does  not 
effectively  provide  for  its  own  security.  This  is 
true  of  an  autocracy  and  uncomfortably  true  of  a 


72  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

democracy.  If  the  reader  accepts  the  statement 
and  finds  on  inquiry  that  I  am  correct  in  my  allega- 
tion as  to  the  inexcusable  shiftlessness  which  our 
people  have  shown  in  matters  regarding  "the 
common  defense,"  for  which  they  associated 
themselves  together,  he  will  be  driven  to  a  dis- 
agreeable conclusion,  viz.,  the  government  of  the 
United  States  as  at  present  administered  cannot  live. 
This  is  a  hard  saying  but  our  fathers,  who  dodged 
issues  just  as  we  are  evading  them  to-day,  phrased 
similar  ones  for  themselves  or  received  them  by 
way  of  warning. 

Harriet  Martineau  in  the  early  thirties  told  her 
contemporaries  that  they  could  not  continue  free 
and  maintain  slavery.  Lincoln  assured  them 
that  a  state  divided  against  itself  could  not  stand, 
and  Lowell,  unconscious  of  the  fact  that  the  guns 
of  Sumter  were  belching  flame  as  he  wrote,  penned 
the  words,  "you  cannot  play  at  rebellion  without 
having  rebellion." 

The  pity  of  it  is  that  each  stinging  assertion  was 
only  a  recognition  of  what  everyday  people  had  been 
saying  among  themselves.  Our  fathers  knew  the 
drift  just  as  we  know  the  drift.  For  ten  years  now 
the  country  has  been  flooded  with  incendiary  lit- 
erature— I.  W.  W.  manifestoes — anarchists'  shrieks 
— and  socialistic  propaganda.  Hard-headed  and 
not  unintelligent  employers  of  labor  are  as  familiar 
with  such  sheets  as  they  are  with  their  morning 
papers.  The  police  weary  with  them  but  are  saved 


Incendiary  Appeal  73 

the  temptation  of  regarding  them  as  academic  be- 
cause of  hundreds  of  occasions  which  have  offered 
to  use  their  clubs.  The  military  know  something 
of  them  but  not  much. 

Some  of  those  who  are  thus  informed  are  political 
students — the  majority  are  not — but  all  will  agree 
that  the  outlook  is  bad,  if  not  dangerous.  The 
shortsighted  say,  "We  can  weather  the  storm 
when  it  comes";  the  grim  and  callous  admit 
' ' After  us  the  deluge. ' '  Just  before  the  cloudburst 
lets  loose  its  fury  men  turn  up  their  coat  collars. 
Then  someone  says  the  obvious  thing — ''It  is 
going  to  rain."  No  one  is  surprised,  everyone 
knew  it  before  and  one  who  vocalizes  the  general 
thought  is  entitled  to  no  credit,  unless  his  voice 
strikes  a  note  of  appeal  that  gets  people  under 
shelter  before  they  are  drenched. 

It  is  in  the  hope  that  someone  will  develop  the 
unusual  faculty  of  stirring  people  out  of  their  day 
dreams,  or  getting  politicians  and  executives  to 
function  so  that  they  will  know  what  matters  and 
what  does  not  matter,  that  I  am  going  to  comment 
upon  one  of  the  more  recent  Soviet  proclamations 
which  has  come  under  my  eye  and  which  is  impu- 
dently put  into  English  type. 

It  purports  to  come  from  the  Central  Execu- 
tive Committee  of  the  Communist  Party  of 
America,  and  because  it  is  admirably  adapted  to 
inform  all  classes  of  the  American  people  what 
persons  in  the  population  (let  us  hope  they  are 


74  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

not  citizens)  are  thinking,  should  have  wide  cir- 
culation. 

This  astonishing  document,  which  is  cleverly 
drawn  by  a  trained  hand,  assumes  that  the  working- 
men  of  the  country  will  be  its  audience.  It  thus 
opens  by  giving  the  impression  to  the  enemies  of 
society  who  encourage  revolutionary  talk  that 
their  number  in  some  way  approximates  the  num- 
ber of  those  who  work  with  their  hands. 

There  is  no  way  of  recording  just  how  deeply  this 
insult,  if  it  came  to  their  attention,  would  be 
regretted  by  the  legions  of  loyal  workmen  who 
themselves  bore  arms  or  who  pushed  stores  and 
munitions  to  the  battle  front  during  the  Great  War. 
As  the  agitators  can  hardly  expect  to  convert  good 
citizens  they  will  undoubtedly  arrange  to  pass 
high-minded  workmen  by  when  providing  for  the 
distribution  of  this  incendiary  literature.  It 
better  serves  their  purpose  to  bulwark  their  dis- 
loyal following  by  assumptions  which  will  not  be 
contradicted,  than  to  engage  in  what  to  them 
would  be  an  unprofitable  discussion.  We  may  take 
it  for  granted  that  the  proclamation  will  be  care- 
fully placed ! 

Premising  then  that  it  is  talking  to  if  not  for  the 
workingmen  of  America,  the  Communist  Com- 
mittee calls  attention  to  the  following  fact  which 
approximates  the  truth  or  the  enlargement  of  the 
truth,  viz.,  that  unemployment  is  on  the  in- 
crease in  New  York,  Boston,  Philadelphia,  St. 


Incendiary  Appeal  75 

Louis,  Cleveland,  Detroit,  Chicago,  and  other 
cities ;  that  from  Maine  to  California  and  from  the 
Great  Lakes  to  the  Gulf  millions  of  workers  are 
idle  and  their  families  are  beginning  to  feel  the 
pinch  of  hunger  and  cold  (this  of  course  is  a 
lurid  picture  of  a  situation  not  nearly  as  distressing 
as  suggested) ;  that  there  is  a  great  accumulation 
of  wealth,  but  that  factories  and  farmers  cannot 
sell  their  products  at  a  profit ;  and  that  as  a  conse- 
quence perishable  goods  are  rotting  and  "workers 
are  thrown  out  on  the  streets  to  starve  and  freeze" 
in  the  midst  of  "unparalleled  plenty." 

Here  is  certainly  matter  for  consideration,  espe- 
cially when  salient  points  are  put  in  heavy  types, 
and  one  is  not  surprised  to  find  a  query  as  to  the 
meaning  of  all  this,  followed  by  an  argument  and 
an  answer. 

In  the  argument  the  reader  is  first  reminded  that 
he  was  recently  informed  by  a  "shrieking  capital- 
ist press"  that  recent  discontent  and  the  "Red 
Wave"  that  was  sweeping  the  country  was  due  to 
insufficient  production,  and  with  others  was  asked 
to  speed  up  the  production  which  has  now  "glutted 
the  markets"  and  thrown  him  out  of  a  job.  He  is 
then  told  that  this  does  not  mean  that  he  and  his 
fellows  have  produced  too  much,  but  that  com- 
modities were  produced  for  profit  (sale  to  foreign 
countries),  and  not  primarily  for  us. 

The  explanation  of  the  existing  conditions  (viz., 
unemployment  and  an  impending  industrial  crisis 


76  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

together  with  overstocked  markets)  lies  in  the  fact 
that  Europe  is  exhausted  and  cannot  purchase  and 
that  financiers  will  not  give  that  continent  credit 
for  fear  that  Soviet  governments  will  repudiate 
debts — that  other  continents  are  too  poor  to  buy 
and  are  seething  with  revolution — and  that  the 
rate  of  exchange  has  made  the  dollar  abnormally 
dear. 

With  this  brief  word  as  to  the  causes  of  existing 
misery,  the  Soviet  Committee  points  out : 

1 .  That  the  American  capitalist  does  not  suffer, 
but  that  the  workman  and  his  family  suffer — "you 
get  kicked  out  of  your  jobs." 

2.  That  the  capitalist  is  deliberately  using  this 
opportunity  to  lower  wages  and  destroy  labor 
organizations. 

3.  That  this  is  a  critical  moment  for  the  work- 
ing class  of  America;  and  that  it  is  time  to  " fight 
and  fight  hard,"  replacing  reactionary  leaders  con- 
trolling labor  organizations  and  bringing  the  entire 
pressure  of  the  ruling  class  to  bear — "through  the 
mass  strike,  the  general  strike,  the  political  strike." 

This  industrial  crisis  [says  the  proclamation]  is  the 
beginning  of  the  revolutionary  movement  that  will 
eventually  lead  to  the  overthrow  of  the  present  capi- 
talist system.  American  capital  is  beginning  to  break 
down.  You  workers  must  finish  the  job. 

All  you  can  get  under  capitalism  is  unemployment, 
starvation,  high  cost  of  living,  dirty  tenements  or 
company  owned  shops,  poverty,  misery,  disease,  and 


Incendiary  Appeal  77 

war.  If  you  do  not  like  that,  and  you  go  on  strike  or 
protest,  you  get  policemen's  clubs,  injunctions,  sheriffs, 
guns,  soldiers,  bayonets,  machine  guns,  and  martial 
law.  If  you  do  not  like  that  you  get  deported  or  jail. 

Very  much  like  a  war  cry  all  this,  is  it  not? 
With  just  the  kind  of  insinuation  to  stir  the  dis- 
satisfied and  envious  mind,  and  just  enough  of  the 
reasonably  critical  to  catch  attention  before 
sweeping  to  conclusions.  But  this  is  not  all.  With 
its  appeal  now  well  under  way,  the  committee 
asserts  as  a  recognized  fact  that  during  the  last 
two  years  the  courts,  the  police,  the  soldiers,  the 
church,  the  labor  leaders,  and  the  government  were 
on  the  side  of  capitalism  in  the  longshoremen's 
strike,  the  coal  strike,  the  steel  strike,  the  "out- 
law" railroad  strike,  the  "outlaw"  printers'  strike, 
and  makes  this  direct  call  for  action : 

The  only  way  in  which  you  can  put  an  end  to  this 
profit  system  which  keeps  you  in  poverty,  misery,  and 
degradation,  and  gives  all  the  good  things  of  life  to  the 
rich,  is  to  conquer  political  power  for  your  class  and 
make  the  working  class  the  ruling  class  in  society. 
You  must  first  destroy  the  present  capitalistic  govern- 
ment and  establish  a  workers'  or  Soviet  government  in 
its  place  by  force — just  as  did  the  peasants  and  workers 
of  Russia. 

The  time  has  come  for  the  workers  of  America  to 
consider  the  necessity  of  establishing  a  Soviet  govern- 
ment in  America. 


78  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

i  pause  for  a  moment  to  comment  on  a  matter 
that  does  not  seem  as  yet  to  have  sufficiently 
caught  the  attention  of  sage  and  thoughtful  Amer- 
icans to  have  brought  out  any  special  expression 
from  them  but  which  certainly  is  of  prime  impor- 
tance. It  is  the  apparent  fact  that  a  great  group  of 
individuals  in  the  United  States  have  substituted 
the  word  "capitalism"  for  the  political  system 
under  which  we  live,  and  that  representative  men 
in  the  larger  group,  presumed  to  be  loyal  to  the 
Constitution  under  which  this  political  system 
exists,  have  fallen  into  the  way  of  accepting  the 
substitution  in  the  forceful  and  logical  answers 
which  they  make  to  the  enemies  of  economic  and 
political  law. 

It  shall  be  for  wise  men  to  decide  whether  or 
not  we  are  being  led  into  a  field  of  discussion  which 
will  ultimately  blur  the  political  sense  of  those  of 
us  who  desire  the  perpetuity  of  the  Republic. 

But  let  us  turn  again  to  our  proclamation  which 
so  frankly  advocates  a  Soviet  government.  This 
now  tells  the  reader  that  a  workers'  government 
would  function  for  the  working  class,  and  be  in 
control  during  the  transition  from  capitalism  to 
communism  up  to  the  time  when  private  ownership 
of  production  and  classes  was  abolished,  when  it 
would  make  way  for  a  communist  society  just  as 
Russia  is  slowly  but  effectively  doing. 

There  you  have  it — Communism  for  democracy. 
This  is  what  American  workmen  are  presumed  to 


Incendiary  Appeal  79 

desire — this  they  are  assured  is  what  the  suffering 
European  worker  is  aiming  at,  and  this  is  what  the 
American  and  European  worker  is  asked  to  believe 
is  necessary  if  he  is  not  to  starve. 

I  propose  now  to  quote  direct  from  the  perora- 
tion which  follows  the  ingenuously  worded  state- 
ment that  the  American  laboring  class  was  led  into 
the  recent  war  on  the  ground  that  it  was  a  struggle 
for  humanity  and  social  justice,  and  that  the  ruling 
class  never  intended  to  keep  the  promises  made : 

Workers  of  America.  Don't  let  yourselves  be 
fooled  by  capitalists'  promises  any  more.  You  will 
only  be  betrayed  again.  There  is  only  one  way  out  of 
this  misery,  poverty,  and  exploitation — you  must 
overthrow  the  present  Capitalist  government  and 
establish  a  workers'  or  Soviet  government  of  America. 

Nor  can  you  abolish  the  capitalist  system  by  seizing 
the  factories  without  at  the  same  time  seizing  the 
political  power.  The  workers  of  Italy  have  just  gone 
through  this  experience  and  they  have  discovered  that 
without  political  power — without  State  power  the 
workers  are  bound  to  lose  out. 

The  only  way  to  overthrow  the  capitalist  govern- 
ment is  by  means  of  mass  action,  demonstration,  pro- 
tests, mass  strikes,  general  strikes,  political  strikes, 
and  culminating  finally  in  open  collision  with  the 
capitalist  state,  armed  insurrection  and  civil  war. 

It  has  seemed  to  me  highly  desirable  that  a 
general  discussion  of  conditions  in  the  United 


8o  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

States,  to  which  the  first  chapters  of  this  book  are 
given,  should  cover  suitable  reference  to  the  in- 
cendiary appeal  which  is  reaching  the  people,  with 
certain  illustrative  citations.  The  whole  matter 
will  have  later  and  particular  attention.  In  the 
meantime  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  reader  who 
finds  it  worthy  of  notice  will  desire  further  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  perversive  influences .  Such  can  be 
secured  from  the  report  of  the  Attorney  General 
of  the  United  States  which  is  being  made  public  as 
this  manuscript  goes  to  press.  According  to  the 
official  statement,  "Communist  parties  in  this 
country  have  united  to  more  effectively  carry  on 
propaganda,  and  the  policy  is  to  gain  control  of 
the  labor  organizations."  So-called  defense  so- 
cieties, "a  camouflage  for  such  movements  as  the 
United  Communist  party,'*  are  propagating  and 
carrying  on  agitation  in  behalf  of  ultra  radicals, 
and  inconspicuous  individuals  apprehended  are 
made  to  pose  as  martyrs  by  the  use  of  propa- 
ganda. Four  hundred  and  twenty-seven  propa- 
gandists arrived  in  the  United  States  during  the 
last  fiscal  year  (we  ship  in  combustible  material 
and  then  import  the  burning  torches  to  set  it 
aglow). 

Of  exceeding  importance  is  a  statement  that  indi- 
cates that  the  work  of  foreign  propagandists  is 
now  particularly  noticeable  and  that  "it  is  im- 
possible to  accurately  estimate  the  vast  amount  of 
money  spent  in  the  United  States  by  foreign  agents 


Incendiary  Appeal  81 

engaged  in  exploiting  the  American  people  and  in 
creating  interest  in  the  support  of  movements 
entirely  foreign  to  the  interests  of  the  American 
people." 


CHAPTER  VII 

LIMITATIONS  OF  DEMOCRACY 

p\EMOCRACY  invites  a  cleavage  of  classes. 
*-"  Automatically  with  the  removal  of  restraint 
comes  self-assertion.  The  lax,  the  idle,  the  dull, 
and  the  superficial  discontinue  effort  which  was 
compelled  by  the  taskmaster.  The  virile  and 
ambitious  find  nothing  to  block  their  enterprise 
and  leap  into  the  places  which  they  are  fitted  to 
fill.  For  a  little  time  after  the  breaking  of  chains 
it  seems  as  if  society  was  bent  on  providing  evi- 
dence for  advocates  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest 
law.  Then  certain  reactions  set  in.  Self-assertion 
recoils  upon  itself  and  becomes  indolence.  Lax 
spirits  breed  more  rapidly  than  the  leading  spirits. 
Thereafter  the  militant  become  the  minority  and 
the  dawdlers  become  dictators  because  they  out- 
number their  betters.  This  brings  inexorable  and 
inevitable  mischief. 

One  does  not  make  such  statements  without 
reluctance,  but  one  hesitates  not  to  make  them  if 
reason  anticipates  the  discouraging  succession  of 
events  that  thwarts  the  friends  of  Freedom  and 

82 


Limitations  of  Democracy  83 

history  provides  ample  evidence  to  justify  reason's 
conclusions. 

Turn  and  twist  as  we  may  to  avoid  facing  the 
truth,  democracy  as  thus  far  defined  by  political 
scientists  carries  within  itself  the  seeds  of  its 
undoing. 

The  fact  leaves  those  who  believe  there  can  be 
no  progress  without  liberty — that  life  is  not  worth 
living  without  liberty — to  accept  one  of  two  courses 
as  offering  a  practical  approach  to  assured  freedom. 
The  first  is  by  the  installation  of  machinery  in  a 
democracy  which  will  correct  natural  tendencies, 
and  the  second  by  discarding  democracy  itself 
and  substituting  some  untried  form  of  government 
in  its  stead. 

I  shall  have  something  to  say  hereafter  in  regard 
to  the  possibility  of  saving  our  particular  Republic 
from  becoming  its  own  victim  or  of  substituting 
some  freedom-guarding  system  that  will  function. 
My  present  task  is  to  call  attention  to  the  manner 
in  which  the  units  which  comprise  this  democracy 
are  dividing  into  hostile  camps  as  we  should  reason- 
ably expect  them  to  if  not  effectively  warned,  and 
to  show  how  the  United  States  is  moving  with  ac- 
celerated speed  along  lines  followed  by  its  political 
precursors. 

The  original  and  fundamental  cleavage  that 
separates  the  people  of  the  United  States  is  that 
which  divides  the  rich  from  the  poor,  the  prosper- 
ous from  those  who  make  no  headway.  It  was 


84  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

caused  by  the  accumulation  of  wealth  which  auto- 
matically produces  terrific  reactions. 

In  the  beginnings  of  the  nation's  life  the  rift  was 
so  negligible  as  to  escape  notice.  It  is  now  abys- 
mal and  will  not  be  healed  except  by  the  sort  of 
self-renunciation  which  can  hardly  be  expected. 

The  American  Revolution  was  a  successful 
thrust  for  independence  by  a  group  of  prosperous 
colonies.  Its  completion  discovered  an  impover- 
ished confederation  groping  toward  nationality. 
Scattered  along  the  seaboard  of  the  continent  were 
unpaid  soldiers  whose  farms  showed  the  lack  of 
husbandry,  and  merchants  rendered  desperate  by 
the  economic  tangle  that  followed  conflicting  State 
laws.  The  people  as  a  whole  were  poor,  and  im- 
patient with  their  fellow-townsmen  who,  through 
natural  sagacity  and  good  judgment,  still  retained 
comfortable  properties  and  estates.  Meantime 
differences  in  education  and  resources  were  as  yet 
insufficient  to  provoke  mass  antagonism.  The 
town  meeting  was  a  leveler,  and  all  holders  of  the 
franchise  stood  on  an  apparent  level. 

While  these  conditions  were  by  no  means  ideal, 
they  were  probably  as  nearly  so  as  will  be  found 
in  human  society.  There  was  strong  party  feeling 
bitterly  expressed  by  Hamilton  and  Jefferson. 
Resentments,  jealousies,  harsh  criticism  caused  by 
the  sort  of  government  action,  or  inaction,  which 
thwarted  individual  enterprise,  or  whipped  the 
sluggish  into  line,  existed,  but  general  discussion 


Limitations  of  Democracy  85 

helped  to  clear  the  air.  Men  of  various  fortunes 
were  still  neighbors,  and  there  was  group  sagacity. 

Times  were  still  favorable  for  the  creation  of  the 
sort  of  healthful  sentiment  which  might  have 
substituted  safety  for  speed  and  crystallized  into 
corrective  legislation,  if  such  was  needed,  but  lesser 
problems  engrossed  attention.  European  markets 
— the  war  with  England — the  Louisiana  Purchase 
— the  opening  of  the  West — and  slavery  issues- 
had  the  appeal  of  the  practical.  We  of  the  deca- 
dence may  criticize,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  we  would 
have  done  differently  than  our  fathers.  They  lost 
themselves  in  the  stir  of  the  moment.  We  should 
probably  have  done  the  same.  It  is  not  for  us  then 
to  accuse  them.  It  is  perhaps  better  to  remember 
the  scripture  adage — "Judge  not  that  ye  be  not 
judged."  At  the  same  time  we  can  but  realize 
that  they  had  the  compelling  facts  which  made  it 
logical  and  necessary  for  them  to  thrice  bulwark 
the  young  Republic. 

Two  centuries  before  their  day  Governor  Brad- 
ford had  summarized  the  causes  that  overwhelmed 
New  Plymouth : 

But  it  may  be  demanded  how  came  it  to  pass  that 
so  many  wicked  persons  and  profane  people  should  so 
quickly  come  over  into  this  land  and  mix  themselves 
among  them  [the  Pilgrims]  yt  began  ye  work  and 
they  came  for  religious  sake.  ...  ist,  It  is  ever  to 
be  remembered  that  where  the  Lord  begins  to  sow 


86  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

good  seed  ther  ye  envious  man  will  endeavor  to  sow 
tares.  ...  2,  When  they  [the  pilgrims]  could  have 
such  as  they  would  [they]  were  glad  to  take  such  as 
they  could  ...  as  so  many  untoward  servants  were 
thus  brought  over  [these]  became  familiar  of  them- 
selves which  gave  increase  herewith.  3,  Those  who 
transported  passengers  cared  not  who  ye  persons  were 
[that  they  brought  over],  so  that  they  had  money  to 
pay  them.  And  by  this  means  the  cunthrie  became 
pestered  with  many  unworthy  persons.  4,  Many  ad- 
hear  to  ye  people  of  God  for  ye  loaves  sake  and  a  mixed 
multitude  came  into  ye  wilderness  with  ye  people  of 
God,  etc.  And  thus  by  one  means  or  other  in  two 
years  time,  it  is  a  question  whether  ye  greater  part  be 
grown  to  worser ,  which  is  as  much  as  to  say  that  it 
only  took  a  score  of  years  to  throw  the  interests  of  a 
religious  colony  into  the  hands  of  irreligious  men. 

The  above  paragraph  and  other  cautionary 
signals  in  the  writings  of  Pilgrims  may  never  have 
come  under  their  eyes,  but  they  knew  of  the  genu- 
ine endeavor  that  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 
and  Rhode  Island  pioneers  had  made  to  preserve 
bodies  politic  which  should  reflect  the  opinions  and 
convictions  of  their  founders,  and  the  amazing 
difficulties  they  had  encountered  not  only  in  their 
unfortunate  but  well-intentioned  efforts  to  preserve 
a  hierarchy,  but  to  maintain  their  ideals.  If  they 
believed  as  they  said  they  did  that  Freedom  was 
their  choicest  possession,  we  can  but  come  to  the 
inexorable  conclusion  that  every  other  object 


Limitations  of  Democracy  87 

should  have  been  subordinated  by  them  to  Free- 
dom's primary  claim. 

Instead  of  so  doing  they  pressed  over  the  Alle- 
ghanies — moved  in  great  companies  into  the 
Western  Reserve — hewed  down  forests — rushed 
their  carrying  trade  into  all  regions  reached  by  the 
channels  of  continental  rivers — opened  routes  to 
the  Columbia  and  the  Golden  Gate — and  created 
that  burning,  scorching  thirst  for  gold  and  ac- 
quisitions which  is  now  driving  the  nation  to  its  ruin. 

It  was  all  magnificent,  but  it  was  splendidly 
dangerous.  We  now  know  that  this  formative 
period  should  have  been  given  to  high  thinking 
and  meager  living.  Far  from  adjusting  themselves 
to  such  ideals  the  men  whom  Webster,  Clay,  and 
Calhoun  represented  in  Washington  lived  waste- 
fully  and  thought  no  more  than  they  had  to.  Thus 
they  burned  their  forests,  as  James  Fenimore 
Cooper  tells  us,  in  order  to  secure  not  lumber  but 
potash;  slaughtered  the  wild  game  that  crossed 
their  far-reaching  trails;  and  robbed  the  earth  of 
its  chemical  properties  without  regard  for  future 
fertility.  Charles  Dickens  stamped  their  genera- 
tion as  only  genius  could.  Harriet  Martineau 
marveled  more  at  their  reckless  disregard  for 
vital  things  than  she  did  at  their  accomplishments, 
and  then  with  the  dawn  of  the  Civil  War  James 
Russell  Lowell,  one  of  the  comparatively  few  in 
that  age  who  still  saw  clearly,  lashed  them  with  a 
scorn  which  was  as  biting  as  it  was  prophetic. 


88  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

Let  us  hear  what  he  has  to  say : 

Our  material  prosperity  for  nearly  half  a  century  has 
been  so  unparalleled  that  the  minds  of  men  have  be- 
come gradually  more  and  more  absorbed  in  matters 
of  personal  concern;  and  our  institutions  have  prac- 
tically worked  so  well  and  so  easily  that  we  have 
learned  to  trust  in  our  luck  and  to  take  the  permanence 
of  our  government  for  granted.  The  country  has  been 
divided  on  questions  of  temporary  policy  and  the 
people  have  been  drilled  to  a  wonderful  discipline  in 
the  maneuvers  of  party  tactics — but  no  crisis  has 
arisen  to  force  upon  them  a  consideration  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  our  system,  or  to  arouse  in  them 
a  sense  of  national  unity  and  make  them  feel  that 
patriotism  was  anything  more  than  a  pleasant  senti- 
ment— half  Fourth  of  July  and  half  Eighth  of  January 
— a  feeble  reminiscence  rather  than  a  living  fact  with 
a  direct  bearing  on  the  National  well-being. 

This  extract  from  the  poet  statesman  graphically 
marks  the  period  in  our  national  life  when  careless 
individualism  registered  itself  as  working  toward 
the  undoing  of  its  own  principles.  Lowell  himself 
could  hardly  have  anticipated  at  that  time  the 
full  significance  of  the  facts  which  caught  his 
attention. 

Except  in  the  South  where  the  great  planters 
were  apparently  regarded  by  the  poor  whites  and 
slaves  as  feudal  chiefs  to  the  manor  born,  there  was 
not  yet  much  exhibition  of  wealth.  Some  great 
merchants  there  were  in  the  North  whose  claim 


Limitations  of  Democracy  89 

for  prestige  was  accepted  with  easy  tolerance,  but 
there  had  not  been  time  to  build  upon  the  founda- 
tions of  the  enormous  fortunes  that  followed  the 
discovery  of  gold  in  California,  the  building  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad,  and  the  utilization  of  the 
supposedly  limitless  resources  of  coal  and  oil. 
Therefore  few  realized  that  explosive  forces  which 
were  shortly  to  shake  the  Republic  had  been  ac- 
cumulating during  a  negative  and  therefore  de- 
cadent political  period. 

Those  who  were  at  all  alive  to  the  situation  be- 
lieved that  the  Civil  War,  the  war  of  voluntary 
service  and  renunciation,  might  bring  about  a 
great  awakening.  To  an  extent  they  were  not 
disappointed.  It  registered  the  Nation's  adherence 
to  the  principles  of  loyalty  and  independence,  and 
gave  it  the  rebirth  in  sentiment  that  Abraham 
Lincoln  desired.  Unfortunately,  however,  it 
brought  other  reactions — first,  the  amassing  of 
enormous  wealth  by  men  who  were  unworthy 
of  their  country,  and  second,  the  vigorous  push 
toward  material  achievement  which  always  fol- 
lows great  wars.  Whether  this  latter  provided  the 
match  which  set  off  the  accumulation  of  combus- 
tibles which  had  been  piling  up,  it  will  be  difficult 
to  say.  This  we  know — that  before  the  farms  and 
shops  had  welcomed  back  a  citizen  soldiery  there 
were  deep-seated  rumblings  presaging  trouble,  and 
that  shortly  thereafter  a  great  rent  separating  the 
rich  from  the  poor  was  torn  through  the  fabric  of 


90  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

American  society.  Of  no  mean  proportions  at  the 
very  first,  this  has  grown  deeper  and  broader  with 
the  recurring  years.  It  is  now  bottomless  and  is 
the  apparent  cause  of  various  other  lines  of  class 
separation,  some  paralleling  its  course  and  others 
radiating  from  it. 

No  attempt  will  be  made  here  to  dwell  upon 
historic  phenomena  with  which  many  living 
Americans  are  familiar.  Draft  riots  in  New  York 
and  industrial  cities  of  the  North,  the  great  rail- 
road riots  of  the  seventies,  agitation  for  a  debased 
currency,  Coxey  demonstrations,  sandlot  oratory, 
and  country-wide  disturbances  have  in  some  de- 
gree evidenced  the  appearance  in  a  government 
framed  for  the  people  of  every  malignant  element 
which  has  blocked  individual  development  in  the 
past  and  wrecked  every  great  civilization  of  which 
we  know. 

It  is  sufficient  to  dwell  upon  conditions  as  they 
are.  They  could  not  be  worse  without  necessi- 
tating revolution. 

To  be  sure  there  is  little  of  the  dreadful  poverty 
which  other  periods  have  witnessed,  but  there  is 
that  which  is  worse — Envy — Hate — Suspicion — 
and  Arrogance.  The  prosperous,  with  exceptions 
of  which  the  public  is  not  unobservant,  reek  with 
their  good  fortune.  In  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a 
hundred  it  has  come  to  them  too  recently  to  be 
gracefully  borne.  Therefore  it  is  flaunted  and 
flicked  into  the  eyes  of  those  who  are  already  mad 


Limitations  of  Democracy  91 

with  jealousy  or  contempt.  Take  the  display  of 
automobiles  on  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York,  or  on 
similar  thoroughfares  in  our  great  cities.  One 
wearies  in  watching  the  endless  processions  of 
these.  Some  are  plain  enough,  some,  though  luxu- 
rious, are  driven  in  a  way  that  indicates  human 
ownership.  But  there  are  always  enough  of  the 
over-splendid  to  disgust  the  sensible  citizen  and 
enrage  the  unfortunate.  Inevitably  these  are  the 
ones  that  are  superfluous  in  their  plate  glass  and 
fittings  that  show  their  owners  to  the  least  ad- 
vantage. Take  note  of  the  latter — the  men  are 
over-fed,  hard-featured,  contemptible ;  the  women 
are  painted,  over-dressed,  and  again  contemptible. 
There  is  no  excuse  for  such  clothes  on  the  public 
highway.  There  is  no  excuse  for  faces  that  reflect 
covetousness,  bestiality,  and  pride.  God  made 
them,  and  man  spoiled  them.  The  democracy 
because  it  is  a  democracy  cannot  interfere  al- 
though one  such  equipage  so  owned  and  so  driven 
rouses  hateful  passion  in  the  state. 

These  two  last  facts  are  worth  pondering,  viz., 
the  limitations  of  a  people's  government,  and  the 
unhappy  consequence  of  ungenerous  ostentation 
and  show.  If  the  owner  of  one  automobile  that 
reeks  with  everything  that  inflames  the  mind  of 
the  critical  can  create  bad  feelings  in  many  of  his 
fellow-citizens,  what  shall  we  expect  to  follow  the 
impudent  and  imposing  exhibition  of  lavishly  uphol- 
stered motor  vehicles  that  never  cease  their  parade  ? 


92  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

Unfortunately  the  automobile  is  not  the  only 
medium  which  the  unthinking  rich  use  in  a  manner 
that  is  extremely  perilous.  It  is  only  one  of  many 
media !  To  be  sure  there  has  never  been  an  age  in 
which  wealth  has  not  bubbled  over  in  vulgarity 
and  shrieked  its  shortcomings  by  the  adornment  of 
person  and  equipage.  Such  things,  however,  be- 
long to  centralized  governments  which  warn  the 
embittered  not  to  express  their  sentiments  and  are 
quick  to  stamp  out  revolt.  With  republics  it  is 
different.  Wealth  that  is  not  shared  is  bound  to  be 
unpopular,  however  honorable  the  acquirement, 
and  in  itself  produces  dangerous  reactions  among 
those  who  do  not  have  it,  which  popular  govern- 
ment has  thus  far  failed  to  deal  with  satisfactorily. 
When  those  who  have  prospered  forget  this,  as 
great  numbers  of  persons  in  the  United  States 
have  forgotten  it,  and  are  flamboyant  and  vain- 
glorious in  their  bearing,  they  invite  the  disaster 
which  is  always  threatening. 

I  fully  recognize  the  fact  that  statements  of  this 
sort  may  well  be  regarded  as  challenging  the  prac- 
ticability of  democracy  as  we  understand  it,  but 
I  have  never  found  that  anything  was  gained  by 
denying  the  existence  of  real  dilemmas.  Of  the 
various  forms  of  government  that  have  been  tried 
I  think  of  none  that  is  better  for  the  individual  man 
and  for  society  than  one  like  that  which  is  secured 
to  the  people  of  the  United  States  through  their 
Constitution.  Meantime  I  cannot  hide  the  fact 


Limitations  of  Democracy  93 

that  the  fair  working  of  the  republican  system 
as  we  know  it  produces  wealth,  and  that  wealth 
creates  envy  and  precipitates  war  between  those 
who  have  it  and  those  who  are  excluded  from  its 
enjoyment. 

It  is  all  very  pitiful  and  tragic  because  thrift, 
a  virtue  in  a  republic,  is  good.  The  accumulation 
which  follows  thrift  that  is  not  covetousness  is 
good,  and  the  encouragement  of  art,  the  building 
of  ample  homes,  and  the  weaving  and  wearing  of 
beautiful  fabrics,  if  not  spoiled  by  pride,  are  good, 
but  these  things  contain  that  in  themselves  which 
is  self-destruction  in  any  society  which  does  not 
provide  safeguards  through  right  education. 

We  have  not  provided  safeguards,  although  we 
put  our  children  through  certain  intellectual  gym- 
nastics, and  it  looks  as  if  we  should  have  to  bear 
the  consequences. 

To  return  now  to  conditions  in  this  country. 
I  have  had  something  to  say  about  the  symptoms 
of  prodigality  and  of  the  contemptuous  attitude 
which  part  of  the  people  bear  or  are  supposed  to 
bear  toward  the  majority  of  their  fellow-citizens, 
and  have  called  attention  to  the  lack  of  cohesion 
between  the  units  of  our  republican  society.  Over 
against  the  exhibition  of  wealth  is  the  recorded  dis- 
satisfaction of  the  multitude  which  is  a  product  of 
the  sort  of  national  prosperity  which  is  garnered 
by  the  few. 

The  crowd  lacks  the  intelligence,  the  judgment 


94  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

and  virility  of  the  minority,  but  it  is  too  ignorant 
or  vicious  to  understand  why  it  does  not  have  a 
larger  share  of  the  good  things  in  life.  It  therefore 
becomes  stolid,  giving  constant  evidence  of  hatred 
and  bad  blood,  and  is  always  big  with  latent  power 
for  trouble.  It  takes  little  to  make  this  latter 
manifest.  Sometimes  it  shows  itself  in  centers 
that  are  affected  with  some  particular  economic 
disturbance.  Sometimes  it  agitates  the  whole 
country  as  in  times  of  unemployment.  However, 
it  matters  little  as  to  this.  What  we  are  to  deplore 
is  the  unhappy  reactions  caused  by  the  workings  of 
economic  law,  the  existence  of  bitterness  among 
great  masses  of  our  countrymen,  and  the  unques- 
tioned will  of  millions  of  persons  who  are  part  of 
this  body  politic,  to  cause  trouble  to  those  who 
have  outstripped  them,  if  opportunity  offers. 
Unless  we  can  find  a  way  to  pull  together  the  edges 
of  the  yawning  gulf  which  divides  the  country 
into  two  great  camps,  we  can  hardly  hope  for  a 
long  continuance  of  a  political  system  inherited 
from  a  former  generation. 


PART  II 

CONQUEST  BY  INVASION 


CHAPTER  I 

IMPORTANT  FACTS  REGARDING  RECENT 
IMMIGRATION 

SOME  facts  and  figures  are  given  in  an  earlier 
chapter  to  acquaint  the  reader  with  the  char- 
acter and  number  of  immigrants  who  have  come 
into  the  United  States  since  we  became  a  Nation. 
I  now  propose  to  more  particularly  discuss  these 
people  and  the  influences  which  sway  them.  To 
do  this  properly  it  is  quite  desirable  that  there 
should  be  a  more  comprehensive  review  of  recent 
immigration  returns  than  has  yet  been  attempted. 
This,  taken  into  consideration  with  data  already 
given,  will  enable  us  to  review  the  personnel  of  the 
Nation  as  it  existed  in  the  past,  note  the  rapidity 
with  which  it  changes,  and  better  understand  the 
situation  as  it  is  to-day. 

We  have  seen  that  up  to  the  year  1880  the  Nation 
still  retained  some  character  of  homogeneity. 
Thereafter  there  was  a  change.  British  and  Ger- 
man immigration  commenced  to  fall  off.  Scan- 
dinavian immigration  which  followed  the  close  of 
the  Civil  War  reached  its  height,  and  peoples  in 
7  97 


98  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

Eastern  and  Southern  Europe  followed  by  re- 
cruits from  Asia  and  Northern  Africa  set  their 
faces  toward  the  new  world.  These  latter  seemed 
to  be  feeling  their  way  at  first.  Italy,  which  up 
to  1877  had  not  contributed  more  than  three  or 
four  thousand  in  any  previous  year,  sent  over 
twelve  thousand  in  1880  and  thirty  thousand  in 
1882.  This  was  the  vanguard  of  a  racial  group 
which  in  1900  was  shipping  one  hundred  thousand 
a  year. 

Thirteen  individuals  entered  the  country  in 
1 86 1  from  Austria-Hungary,  being  the  first  re- 
corded visitors  from  the  populous  provinces  of  the 
dual  empire.  Thereafter  each  year  brought  a 
consignment  of  a  few  hundreds  or  thousands  until 
1 88 1  when  nearly  twenty-eight  thousand  Austro- 
Hungarians  pioneered  the  real  movement  from 
that  country  to  the  United  States.  This  in  1900 
brought  114,000  and  in  1904  over  177,000 
souls. 

Russian  immigration  moved  along  similar  lines 
to  that  from  Austria-Hungary.  In  1880,  7191 
subjects  of  the  Czar  are  reported  as  entering  our 
ports.  That  was  the  largest  number  coming  in 
any  one  season  up  to  that  date.  1900  brought 
90,787  and  1906,  215,665  Russians.  The  returns 
from  the  last  two  countries  when  analyzed  explain 
the  presence  in  our  industrial  sections  of  great 
numbers  of  Jews,  Poles,  Bohemians,  and  other 
racial  groups. 


Facts  Regarding  Recent  Immigration     99 

The  above  figures  fairly  illustrate  the  rapid  in- 
crease in  the  numbers  of  newcomers  from  the 
countries  thus  adverted  to.  Immigration  from 
each  was  at  its  height  with  the  opening  of  the  War 
in  1914.  In  that  year  283,738  Italians,  278,152 
Austro-Hungarians,  and  255,660  Russians  entered 
this  country.  Born  under  autocracies,  knowing 
nothing  of  self-government,  differing  essentially 
in  manners  and  customs,  using  tongues  unlike  the 
English,  which  for  fifteen  years  after  the  war  be- 
tween the  States  remained  in  general  vogue,  these 
people  have  strongly  modified  our  American  life 
by  introducing  problems  for  which  the  Nation 
was  totally  unprepared.  Meantime  they  have 
not  been  unaccompanied  for  no  sooner  had  this 
exodus  gotten  well  underway  than  its  very  pull  or 
momentum  began  to  affect  other  nations  and  con- 
tinents, so  that  commencing  with  1890  it  became 
necessary  for  our  immigration  authorities  to  list 
outside  of  the  immigration  already  referred  to  and 
that  which  is  unassigned  the  citizens  of  eight  major 
countries,  using  languages  totally  dissimilar  from 
each  other,  viz.,  China,  Japan,  Turkey,  Greece, 
Belgium,  Portugal,  Roumania,  and  Mexico.  One 
of  these  nations  is  now  represented  in  the  Re- 
public by  more  than  476,000  persons. 

The  above  figures  have  been  added  to  those 
already  given  to  further  illustrate  the  manner  in 
which  the  population  of  the  United  States  shifted 
from  a  status  of  homogeneity  to  one  of  hetero- 


ioo  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

geneity.  They  should  be  informing  as  indicating 
the  special  strains  of  blood  that  are  now  found  in 
our  country. 

The  result  of  this  recent  immigration,  taken 
together  with  the  natural  increase  of  the  resident 
foreign  white  stock,  becomes  apparent  from  a 
glance  at  the  following  data. 

In  1900  the  whole  population  of  the  United 
States,  excluding  outlying  possessions,  was  75,994,- 
575.  Of  this  number  25,859,834  are  recorded  by 
the  twelfth  census  as  foreign  stock,  viz.,  foreign- 
born  or  of  foreign  parentage.  In  1910  the  whole 
population  of  the  United  States,  excluding  out- 
lying possessions,  was  91 ,972,266.  Of  this  number 
32,243,382  are  recorded  by  the  thirteenth  census 
as  foreign  stock.  This  shows  an  increase  for  the 
ten  year  period  in  the  so-called  foreign  population 
of  24  7/1  o  per  cent. 

Returns  for  the  fourteenth  census  are  yet  un- 
available to  show  the  existent  relation  of  the 
foreign  stock  in  the  country  to  the  whole  popula- 
tion, but  we  know  that  immigration  up  to  1914 
continued  large,  and  we  also  know  that  while  the 
War  and  subsequent  conditions  have  sharply 
checked  the  present  flow  of  humanity  from 
east  to  west,  there  is  no  lack  of  desire  to  immi- 
grate. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  in  connection  with  the 
matter  under  discussion  that  while  few  persons 
are  now  reaching  our  ports  from'  territories  re- 


Facts  Regarding  Recent  f mnrsigi  ation  rcn 

cently  under  Russian,  German,  and  Austrian  con- 
trol, Spanish  immigration,  formerly  nil,  is  be- 
coming a  decided  factor  in  recent  reports,  and  that 
Mexicans  are  pouring  over  the  Rio  Grande  border. 
This  latter  truth  taken  into  connection  with  the 
incoming  of  Orientals  and  persons  arriving  via 
Canada  must  lead  us  shortly  to  think  of  immigra- 
tion as  something  more  than  a  tidal  wave  from 
Europe.  In  reality  it  resembles  the  inflow  that 
comes  over  the  edge  of  a  bowl  which  is  pressed 
below  the  surface  of  the  water. 

Before  leaving  this  phase  of  immigration  it  may 
be  profitable  to  refer  to  that  part  of  it  which  is 
transient.  Statisticians  and  publicists  who  deal 
with  data  affecting  our  population  have  been  too 
often  satisfied  to  refer  to  the  last  official  Federal 
census.  This  has  led  them  and  those  who  rely 
upon  their  figures  to  draw  erroneous  conclusions. 
It  probably  explains  a  failure  to  provide  such 
regulatory  laws  as  would  save  the  Nation  from  a 
thousand  embarrassments.  If  such  inquirers 
want  all  the  facts  they  cannot  overlook  the  re- 
turns of  the  immigration  authorities,  and  especially 
those  which  have  to  do  with  emigration  or  the 
outgoing  of  aliens. 

The  census  expert  learns  something  of  the 
number  of  foreign-born  in  the  country  at  recurring 
ten-year  periods,  but  he  takes  no  account  of  the 
unregulated  armies  of  aliens  who  have  swarmed 
our  ports,  taken  up  temporary  residence  among  us, 


no* 'i^i     The  Pferil  of  the  Republic 

(perhaps  participating  in  industrial  wars),  and 
drifted  out  again  when  it  suited  their  convenience. 
This  element  is  a  disturbing  one  and  should  be 
reckoned  as  such.  It  can  be  checked  up  by  a 
study  of  the  charts  presented  in  the  Reports  of  the 
Commissioner  General  of  Immigration  which 
designate  permanent  arrivals  and  departures  as 
"immigrant  aliens "  and  "emigrant  aliens,"  and 
temporary  arrivals  and  departures  as  "non- 
immigrant aliens"  and  "non-emigrant  aliens." 
These  indicate  that  between  1908  and  1921  we  re- 
ceived 8,312,037  persons  who  alleged  that  they 
had  come  to  stay,  and  dismissed  2,970,305  persons 
who  alleged  that  they  would  not  return.  During 
the  same  years  the  Government  Bureau  reported 
that  1,967,012  aliens  (non-immigrant)  were  at 
different  times  temporarily  in  the  country,  and 
2,513,490  aliens  (non-emigrant)  domiciled  here 
were  traveling  abroad. 

Such  facts  disclose  currents  of  influence  moving 
through  the  alien  population  of  the  United  States 
and  the  racial  groups  overseas.  They  are  worth 
attention ! 

It  is  now  in  order  to  take  up  the  matter  of  im- 
migrant distribution !  Where  have  all  the  peoples 
who  have  come  from  outside  and  thrown  in  their 
lot  with  us  during  the  last  fifty  years  gone,  and 
how  are  they  absorbed  ? 

For  convenience  immigrants  of  the  past  may  be 
divided  into  four  classes : 


Facts  Regarding  Recent  Immigration  103 

i. — The  Nordic  group. 

2. — Farmers,  traders,  and  mechanics  belonging 
to  other  white  groups. 
3. — Unskilled  white  labor, 
4. — Orientals. 

I. — The  Nordic  group  includes  the  British, 
Dutch,  German,  French,  and  Scandinavian  peoples. 
Of  these  the  English-speaking  stock  is  widely  dis- 
tributed, has  been  readily  amalgamated,  and  both 
in  city  and  country  are  important  factor  sin  Ameri- 
can life.  It  is  difficult  to  localize  it.  The  Ger- 
mans are  in  New  York,  Ohio,  Wisconsin,  and 
Missouri.  The  French-Canadians  are  in  the  in- 
dustrial centers  of  New  England  and  here  and 
there  along  the  border.  Scandinavians  are  in 
Minnesota  and  similar  states  of  the  West  North 
Central  Division  which  are  interested  in  farming 
and  flour-milling.  While  certain  of  these  people 
cling  to  their  own  tongues,  the  whole  group,  which 
belongs  to  the  earlier  immigration,  form  an  impor- 
tant element  of  the  fixed  population  and  give  no 
occasion  for  concern. 

2. — The  second  class  designated — farmers,  trad- 
ers, and  mechanics — will  be  found  to  come  mostly 
from  Central,  Eastern,  and  Southern  Europe 
It  is  made  up  of  the  Jews  from  Germany,  Rus- 
sia, and  pre-War  Austria-Hungary,  Greek  and 
Italian  fruit-dealers  and  small  ware  merchants  of 
different  nations,  skilled  laborers  whose  talents 


104  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

are  quickly  utilized  in  the  industries  and  who  not 
infrequently  make  rapid  progress,  gardeners  and 
farmers  like  the  Poles  who  raise  tobacco  in  the 
Connecticut  Valley,  the  Portuguese  of  Cape  Cod, 
and  small  agriculturists  of  other  nations  who  are 
found  along  the  coast  and  near  the  great  towns. 

Varying  in  tastes,  talents,  and  accomplishments, 
these  people  are  at  one  in  seeking  the  cities  or 
metropolitan  neighborhoods.  This  limits  them 
naturally  to  the  New  England,  the  Middle  Atlan- 
tic, and  the  East  North  Central  States.  Many 
bring  a  little  money  with  them  into  the  country; 
others  accumulate  by  the  thrift  and  industry 
which  is  required  in  order  to  make  any  headway 
in  their  callings.  Such  means  as  they  have  or 
acquire  is  invested  for  profit,  and  with  the  habit 
of  independent  planning,  becomes  an  agency  in 
hastening  their  assimilation.  This  group  there- 
fore like  the  one  already  treated  is  readily 
absorbed. 

3. — The  third  division  is  made  up  of  unskilled 
labor,  and  exceeds  all  other  classes  in  number.  It 
is  apt  to  be  illiterate  and  deficient  in  qualities  which 
fit  it  to  compete  with  the  forces  of  American  life. 

While  the  incoming  masses  which  make  up  the 
latter  element  appear  to  drift  hither  and  thither, 
there  is  a  trend  of  individuals  toward  centers  which 
have  been  colonized  by  similar  stock  and  into  in- 
dustries which  employ  persons  speaking  the  same 
tongue. 


Facts  Regarding  Recent  Immigration  105 


As  a  result  of  such  influences  we  find- 


in  New  England  which  is  a 
center  for  textiles,  boots 
and  shoes,  machinery, 
metal  work. 


in  New  York  and  New  Jersey 
which  have  diversified  in- 
dustries including  silk  man- 
ufacture, clothing,  copper 
products,  foundry  work, 
canning. 

in  Pennsylvania  and  Illinois 
which,  outside  of  their 
manufacturing  interests,  op- 
erate coal  mines  and  make 
pig  iron  and  steel. 

in  Ohio,  Illinois,  Michigan, 
and  adjacent  States  which 
are  engaged  in  manufactur- 
ing, copper  mining,  auto- 
mobile building,  etc. 

in  Texas  and  California. 


Italians 

Poles 

French-Canadians 

Lithuanians 

Greeks 

Italians 

Austrians 

Russians 


Russians 
Austro-Hungarians 


Bohemians 
Hungarians 
Slavs 


Mexicans 

Italians 

Russians 

Austrians 


Although  a  reasonable  percentage  of  the  in- 
dividuals belonging  to  this  class  develop  unsus- 


io6  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

pected  powers,  sometimes  surprising  their  friends 
by  the  marked  manner  in  which  they  grasp  and 
utilize  American  ideas,  the  very  great  majority 
colonize  and  remain  an  undigested  and  dangerous 
element  in  the  democracy.  As  has  been  seen,  a 
considerable  portion  is  in  America  transiently. 
The  balance  absorbs  slowly  and  frequently  pre- 
sents aggregations  of  thousands  of  souls  who  after 
ten  years  of  residence  know  little  English  and 
continue  to  follow  customs  and  habits  which  are 
alien  to  the  standards  of  the  Republic. 

4. — There  remain  the  Orientals.  These  are  for 
the  present  segregated  in  the  Pacific  States,  and 
because  of  color  and  Asiatic  origin  constitute  a 
problem  in  themselves.  They  are  not  among 
those  who  are  readily  assimilated. 

In  reviewing  the  locus  of  immigrant  groups  some 
attention  has  been  given  to  the  matter  of  absorp- 
tion. It  is  to  be  regretted  that  a  question  of  equal 
importance,  that  which  relates  to  the  criminal 
record  of  these  peoples,  can  only  be  superficially 
handled  because  of  the  inability  of  many  thou- 
sands of  non-English  speaking  foreigners  who  be- 
come the  prey  of  criminals  to^  make  convincing 
reports  of  their  tragic  experiences.  Such  facts  as 
are  collated  by  statisticians  and  from  police 
records  are  therefore  incomplete  and  cannot 
wisely  be  made  the  basis  for  final  conclusions  in 
regard  to  the  degrees  of  criminality  which  should 
be  assigned  different  races. 


Facts  Regarding  Recent  Immigration  107 

The  careful  student  must  therefore  await  the 
opening  of  communications  between  the  non- 
English-speaking  populace  and  the  mass  of  the 
citizenry — a  thing  which  is  by  no  means  imprac- 
ticable of  accomplishment.  In  the  meantime  we 
have  statistics  to  indicate  that  the  foreign-born 
and  foreign  parentage  public  makes  a  bad  criminal 
return  when  compared  to  that  made  by  native- 
born  of  native-stock. 

We  know  that  the  Italian  people,  perhaps  be- 
cause of  temperament,  make  a  poor  criminal 
showing;  that  the  Irish  and  Russians  have  an  un- 
enviable record;  and  that  the  Germans  are  law- 
abiding.  We  have  the  important  contribution 
which  Professor  Commons  has  made  to  our  knowl- 
edge by  pointing  out  that  the  percentage  of 
criminals  among  native-born  persons  of  foreign 
parentage  is  far  above  the  number  of  lawbreakers 
among  the  foreign-born  or  persons  of  all-native 
stock;  and  we  have  the  tabulations  of  Raymond 
Fosdick's  valuable  book  on  American  Police  Sys- 
tems recently  from  the  press,  to  verify  the  con- 
temporary impression  that  the  "American  crime 
rate  is  greatly  augmented  by  the  presence  of 
unassimilated  or  poorly-assimilated  races." 

What  our  people  need  now  to  consider  is — that 
however  bad  an  exhibit  the  foreign  population 
make  in  police  records,  it  does  not  begin  to  reflect 
the  real  condition.  The  average  alien  lives  in  an 
old-world  environment,  in  which  he  is  open  to  im- 


io8  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

pudent  robbery,  criminal  intrigue,  and  exploitation. 
If  he  escapes  such,  it  is  only  by  his  good  fortune. 
If  he  becomes  a  victim,  there  is  no  redress  because 
he  is  unacquainted  with  his  rights,  and  not  know- 
ing the  English  language,  is  without  the  medium 
for  complaint. 

It  has  been  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  to  show 
the  sources  of  immigration  to  the  United  States, 
the  accelerated  movement  of  the  ever-increasing 
tide,  and  the  distribution  of  the  newcomers.  The 
whole  matter  can  hardly  be  dismissed  without 
again  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  great 
mass  of  immigrants  is  drawn  to  thirteen  States  of 
the  Union.  This  directly  interests  the  inhabit- 
ants of  these  Commonwealths,  and  because  of 
their  political  importance,  indirectly  affects  the 
whole  citizenry  of  the  United  States. 

Figures  follow.  They  are  intended  to  show 
areas  and  population  as  given  by  the  official  1920 
census,  and  the  assumed  foreign-born  and  foreign- 
parentage  population  in  1920. 


Assumed 

Whole 

Foreign-born 

Population 

Foreign-parent- 

Area —  1920 

1920 

age  1920 

Mass. 

8,039 

3,852,356 

2,676,13! 

R.I. 

1,067 

604,397 

435,786 

Conn. 

4,820 

1,380,631 

841,638 

N.  Y. 

47^54 

10,385,227 

7,182,721 

N.J. 

7,5H 

3,155,900 

1,683,762 

Penn. 

44,832 

8,720,017 

3,864,454 

Facts  Regarding  Recent  Immigration  109 

Ohio  40.740  5.759.394  1,839,362 

Ind.  36,045  2,930,390  543.925 

111.  56,043  6,485,280  3,322,423 

Mich.  57480  3,668,412  1,781,633 

Wise,  55»256  2,632,067  1,638,666 

Minn.  80,858  2,387,125  1,581,362 

Iowa  55.586  2,404,021  948,376 


495.934  54.365,217          28,340,239I 

A  glance  at  the  above  tables  indicates  that  the 
foreign  population  of  thirteen  States,  which  com- 
prise less  than  one  sixth  of  the  area  of  continental 
United  States  (excluding  Alaska),  is  more  than 
one  quarter  of  the  whole  population  of  the  country. 
It  also  indicates  that  more  than  one  half  of  the 
population  of  the  aforesaid  thirteen  States  which 
are  the  centers  of  the  Nation's  industry,  is  foreign- 
born  or  of  foreign-parentage.  Here  is  food  for 
reflection ! 

1  Data  collated  from  the  Fourteenth  Census  and  Immigration 
Reports. 


CHAPTER  II 

SOWING  THE  SEED  OF  DISAFFECTION 

WE  have  seen  that  there  are  many  aliens  and 
persons  of  alien  minds  domiciled  among  us. 
We  know  that  to  an  unfortunate  extent  this  army 
has  been  bred  in  revolutionary  tactics,  and  has 
little  consideration  for  church  and  state.  This 
fact  which  was  equally  true  thirty  years  ago 
should  have  then  led  to  careful  provision  for  the 
regulation  and  control  of  immigrants.  It  would 
be  more  difficult  to  understand  why  nothing  was 
done  if  we  were  doing  something  adequate  our- 
selves. Omit  cases  where  the  immediate  view  of 
the  dollar  stimulates  us  to  action,  and  we  are  not 
much  inclined  to  push  remedial  measures.  Trade 
matters  always  have  right  of  way.  Log-rolling 
propositions  involving  post-roads,  colossal  irriga- 
tion projects,  and  political  patronage,  interest  us 
because  they  are  means  to  private  emolument,  but 
we  are  all  too  busy  to  look  after  academic  proposi- 
tions that  some  other  fellow  may  take  care  of. 

What  is  true  of  the  citizenry  of  the  post -world- 
war  period  is  true  of  their  predecessors.     Nothing 

no 


Sowing  the  Seed  of  Disaffection        in 

was  done  by  them  to  supervise,  protect,  or  direct 
the  incoming  hordes  which  have  been  as  free  to 
plot,  assemble,  and  agitate  as  they  have  been  to 
move  wherever  they  were  inclined. 

This  absurd  disposition  to  let  things  go  by  de- 
fault has  been  and  continues  to  be  a  major  mis- 
take, and  may  lead  to  the  overturning  of  the 
democracy. 

Thirty  years  ago  Americans  fully  understood 
the  magnitude  of  the  immigration  movement,  and 
not  only  officials  who  represented  the  government 
at  the  docks,  but  Congress  itself,  were  advised  as 
to  the  personnel  of  immigrants.  Critics  had  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  various  surveys — for 
which  we  have  a  passion  and  which  corporations, 
the  government,  and  men  of  great  wealth  indulge 
in  apparently  for  the  purpose  of  avoiding  construc- 
tive work — had  been  undertaken  and  published. 
It  is  an  indisputable  fact  moreover  that  federal 
and  state  lawmakers,  hailing  from  industrial 
centers,  were  more  or  less  informed  because  of  the 
appearance  in  our  statute  books  of  legislation  en- 
acted to  meet  minor  problems  which  had  shaped 
up  as  a  consequence  of  the  Nation's  laissez-faire 
methods. 

Such  facts  and  a  thousand  others  bear  witness 
to  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  situation  to  have 
justified  strong  regulative  statutes  which  with- 
out interfering  with  industry  would  have  de- 
flected or  rendered  impotent  forces  which  have 


112  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

developed  by  neglect  and  are  now  almost  beyond 
restraint. 

These  forces  reflect  that  animus  or  enemy  mind 
of  the  so-called  foreign  population  of  the  United 
States  which  is  not  explained  by  consciousness  of 
numbers  or  racial  antagonism,  but  by  the  insuf- 
ferable treatment  that  these  people  have  received 
from  Americans. 

A  statement  of  this  nature  suggests  a  strong  in- 
dictment and  may  provoke  criticism.  It  there- 
fore seems  wise  to  anticipate  such  by  a  word  of 
explanation. 

I  do  not  intend  to  say  that  all  the  people  of  the 
United  States  have  failed  in  their  duty  toward 
the  undigested  mass  which  they  have  admitted 
to  their  borders,  any  more  than  I  wish  to  re- 
cord myself  as  believing  that  all  aliens  coming 
into  the  country  with  the  so-called  tidal  wave  of 
ignorance  and  prejudice  are  difficult  of  assimila- 
tion. Just  as  there  have  been  tens  of  thousands 
of  recent  immigrants  who  measure  up  to  the  best 
standards  of  the  United  States,  so  there  are  tens 
of  thousands  of  Americans  who  by  voice  and  ac- 
tion have  done  what  they  could  to  show  the  hospi- 
tality that  is  implied  in  invitation. 

With  this  prefatory  word  I  shall  endeavor  to 
explain  what  I  mean  by  the  "  insufferable  treat- 
ment" accorded  immigrants  by  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  It  will  be  found  to  cover  the  whole 
period  from  the  moment  that  the  foreigner  is  re- 


Sowing  the  Seed  of  Disaffection        113 

ceived  at  the  docks  until  the  period  five,  ten, 
twenty  years  after  when  according  to  the  new- 
comer's ability  to  become  assimilated,  he  finds 
himself  a  derelict  in  some  non-English-speaking 
colony  of  an  industrial  city. 

As  far  as  individual  federal  officers  have  been 
able  to  mitigate  the  immigrant's  discomfort  dur- 
ing the  detention  at  government  docks,  this  has 
been  done;  but  there  have  frequently  been  too 
few  inspectors,  insufficient  quarters  or  inadequate 
machinery  for  complying  with  the  statutory  re- 
quirements. This  is  the  fault  of  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  which  has  levied  a  sufficient 
head  tax  upon  the  newcomers  to  pay  the  charges 
of  proper  oversight  but  has  withheld  all  but  a 
niggardly  appropriation. 

One  who  views  some  of  the  reception  pens  dur- 
ing these  days  of  stress  or  takes  cognizance  of  the 
fact  that  thousands  of  would-be  new  arrivals  are 
kept  immured  in  the  unwholesome  quarters  of 
ships  for  days  after  their  arrival  in  America,  will 
wonder  why  the  United  States  does  not  discourage 
more  immigration  than  it  can  take  care  of.  This 
is  a  problem  which  awaits  solution.  Meantime  it 
may  be  truly  said  that  the  government  officials 
evince  a  disposition  to  do  all  in  their  power  to 
make  the  discomforts  of  disembarkation  as  en- 
durable as  possible  for  the  stranger.  There  is 
much  kindness  shown  to  women  and  children,  and 
a  spirit  of  helpfulness  prevails. 


ii4  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

Outside  of  the  docks  beyond  the  spasmodic 
efforts  of  altruistic  societies  to  prevent  the  rawest 
kind  of  maltreatment,  the  new  arrival  who  is 
without  friends  to  meet  him  has  nothing  but 
exploitation  and  sorrow*  to  look  forward  to. 

Criminally  minded  and  enormously  clever  in- 
dividuals, who  know  the  immigrant's  necessities 
better  than  he  does  himself,  await  him  on  the 
street  corners  or  follow  him  to  his  lodgings,  and 
neglect  no  opening  to  deprive  him  of  his  money 
before  he  has  fairly  deposited  the  picturesque 
bundles  which  he  brings  with  him  as  baggage. 
Thereafter  he  is  tossed  hither  and  thither  be- 
tween dishonest  boarding-house  keepers,  money- 
changers, padrones,  and  labor  agents  until  the 
major  part  of  his  tiny  capital  fund  of  fifty  dollars 
or  thereabouts  has  been  extracted  without  any 
fair  equivalent  being  returned. 

The  result  is  exactly  what  might  have  been 
anticipated.  The  unhappy  subject  of  thoughtless 
government  economy,  wretched  dock  facilities, 
and  outrageous  exploitation  resents  and  bitterly 
resents  the  manner  in  which  he  is  thrown  about 
and  robbed.  He  may  be  decadent  and  lacking  in 
superior  mental  gifts,  but  he  is  human  and  there- 
fore almost  hopelessly  embittered  toward  the 
institutions  of  a  country  which  has  treated  him 
or  permitted  him  to  be  treated  in  such  a  manner. 

Now  it  is  a  grave  experiment  for  any  people  and 
especially  a  free  people  to  admit  within  its  terri- 


Sowing  the  Seed  of  Disaffection        115 

tory  vast  numbers  of  aliens  who  are  unacquainted 
with  its  manners  and  customs,  and  it  is  a  grievous 
error  to  encourage  such  aliens  if  their  education 
makes  them  impatient  of  government.  What 
shall  we  say  then  as  to  the  foolhardiness  of  a  na- 
tion which  not  only  welcomes  a  vast  army  of  unfit 
immigrants  but  with  frank  indifference  permits 
the  newcomers  to  be  so  angered  and  distressed 
that  assimilation  into  the  law-abiding  part  of  the 
public  becomes  impossible  ?  Is  such  a  policy  other 
than  suicidal?  Propounding  this  question  in 
order  that  the  matter  may  have  adequate  at- 
tention, I  wish  to  return  to  the  experiences  of 
immigrants  as  they  leave  the  docks. 

Americans  of  culture  are  travelers  whenever 
their  purses  permit  the  expense.  While  for  the 
most  part  they  are  careful  to  provide  for  suitable 
guides  and  couriers  they  rarely  escape  experiences 
which  illustrate  the  helplessness  of  a  stranger  in 
a  strange  land — and  this  too  when  they  possess 
some  smattering  of  a  foreign  language.  Such 
persons  will  quickly  understand  the  plight  of  an 
arriving  family  which  frequently  includes  several 
children.  Here  they  are — father,  mother,  baby 
in  arms,  and  two  or  three  little  bundles  of  clothing 
which  on  inspection  turn  out  to  be  boys  and  girls 
of  tender  age.  The  whole  group  divide  as  best 
they  may  their  entire  family  possessions — a 
wooden  chest  roped  up  so  that  it  can  be  handled 
like  a  valise — some  carpet-bag  impedimenta-,  and 


n6  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

a  sack  or  two.  They  have  less  than  one  hundred 
dollars  all  told,  and  the  mother  is  drawing  on  this 
small  fund  for  the  sustenance  of  her  dependents, 
frequently  paying  double  the  value  of  the  simple 
food  that  she  requires.  This  little  coterie  is  at  once 
marked  by  the  nearest  "Americanized  "  scamp  who 
earns  his  living  by  preying  upon  his  immigrant 
fellow-countrymen. 

There  is  little  chance  for  him  while  a  federal 
inspector  is  by,  but  there  are  ways  and  means  of 
approach,  and  so  sometimes  before  government 
protection  is  removed  and  sometimes  shortly  after 
he  accosts  the  man.  Where  is  he  going?  If  to  a 
western  point,  the  inquirer  can  be  of  no  service 
because  the  steamship  company  has  already  ar- 
ranged for  transportation  by  land,  but  he  can  hand 
his  new  friend  the  card  of  some  Chicago  or  Pitts- 
burg  villain  who  is  as  bad  as  he  is  represented  to 
be  virtuous.  If  to  a  nearby  industrial  town,  then 
the  inquirer,  who  speaks  English  as  well  as  the 
language  of  the  newcomer,  will  rejoice  to  be  of 
service.  So,  too,  if  he  is  to  remain  in  the  port  it- 
self. There  is  conference  and  persuasion,  some- 
times collusion  between  the  principal  rogue  and 
some  accomplice — then  carriage  is  provided  at  an 
exorbitant  rate  and  the  whole  company  trans- 
ported to  a  bad-smelling  and  dirty  hostelry  for  the 
night.  Here  there  are  introductions  and  com- 
munications between  labor  agents,  padrones,  etc. 
Do  the  adults  want  work?  All  that  can  be  ar- 


Sowing  the  Seed  of  Disaffection        117 

ranged  for  at  a  price,  and  so  with  the  commissions 
for  this  and  that  and  numberless  charges  the  re- 
sources of  the  man  and  woman  rapidly  wane.  This 
is  too  frequently  the  beginning  of  the  end.  The 
couple  shift  here  and  there,  always  advised. 
There  is  sickness  or  there  are  legal  papers  to  sign. 
One  of  the  professional  doctors  or  one  of  the  pro- 
fessional lawyers,  whose  practice  is  confined  to 
the  neighborhood  of  the  docks,  is  called  in — it 
matters  little  which,  either  will  have  his  pound  of 
flesh — and  then  the  victims  are  released  but  not 
before  they  are  fleeced. 

There  follow  a  few  experiences : 

A  Pole  arrived  at  Ellis  Island  with  forty  dollars 
in  gold  (Austrian  money).  On  inquiry  as  to  ex- 
change he  learned  that  there  was  a  small  estab- 
lishment near  the  Bowery  where  he  would  be 
quickly  accommodated.  Hastening  to  this  private 
banker  he  explained  his  needs  and  received  a  clean 
dollar  bill  in  exchange  for  the  weightier  gold.  He 
was  then  taken  by  his  informant  to  the  up-town 
elevated  and  sent  on  his  way  to  Harlem. 

During  a  time  of  unemployment  groups  of 
Russians  were  landed  at  Portland,  Maine,  and 
New  York.  They  had  been  urged  to  sell  all  they 
had  and  buy  tickets  to  America.  It  is  said  that 
their  total  resources  were  negligible,  but  they  had 
tickets  to  western  points  which  were  crowded  with 
unemployed  laborers  and  did  not  wish  to  receive 
them.  There  was  absolutely  nothing  for  them  to 


n8  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

do  at  the  ports  of  entry,  and  no  one  sufficiently 
strong  financially  was  willing  to  stand  sponsor  for 
them.  They  were  ordered  deported,  leaving  their 
impecunious  friends  sore  and  enraged. 

Seven  Italians  came  into  Boston  from  New 
York,  which  had  been  their  port  of  entry.  Their 
purses  were  nearly  flat.  They  were  in  search  of  a 
friend  whose  address  was  within  a  block  of  the 
South  Station.  An  experienced  cab  driver  so- 
licited their  trade,  extracted  a  dollar  apiece  from 
each,  gave  them  a  little  ride,  and  set  them  down 
at  a  stone's  throw  from  the  place  where  they 
started  from. 

One  hundred  and  forty  foreigners  (new  ar- 
rivals) were  taken  in  charge  by  a  padrone,  cooped 
up  in  a  barn  which  under  the  health  regulations 
contained  oxygen  enough  for  twenty-five  persons 
(no  more).  The  better  part  of  their  earnings  was 
spent  for  food  which  the  padrone  provided  at 
exorbitant  rates.  This  continued  until  the  men 
demurred.  Riots  followed ! 

For  a  time  immigrants  on  boat  trains  connecting 
New  York  steamers  with  New  England  points 
were  regularly  worked  by  a  uniformed  man  who 
claimed  to  be  an  official  and  as  such  was  regarded 
with  awe  by  the  new  arrivals.  This  individual  in 
an  authoritative  way  demanded  five  or  ten  dollars 
from  each  immigrant  and  is  reported  to  have  col- 
lected it,  too,  without  being  forced  to  show  his 
credentials.  Rascals  of  this  sort  take  care  to 


Sowing  the  Seed  of  Disaffection        119 

assure  themselves  that  there  is  no  one  in  the  group 
exploited  who  can  speak  English. 

A  woman  whose  husband  and  child  died  shortly 
after  her  arrival  in  America  was  told  by  a  sym- 
pathetic individual  that  he  could  get  work  for  her 
in  a  Pennsylvania  mining  center.  She  would 
have  to  supply  the  transportation  for  both  as  he 
was  without  money.  He  promised  that  on  arrival 
he  would  recompense  the  outlay.  This  amounted 
to  forty  dollars  which  the  woman  contributed. 
Tickets  to  a  nearby  suburban  station  were  bought 
for  a  small  sum  and  the  balance  pocketed  by  the 
man  who  disappeared  on  arrival. 

These  instances  show  the  more  obscure  rogue 
at  work  as  well  as  the  professional.  The  latter 
handles  his  prey  in  blocks,  arranges  for  an  unfair 
exchange  of  money  and  exorbitant  baggage  trans- 
portation taxes,  and  plays  into  the  hands  of  tene- 
ment keepers  who  charge  enormously  for  accom- 
modations and  then  pack  their  guests  in  unhygienic 
rooms  (an  incident  is  cited  of  seven  men  in  a  ten 
by  twelve  room — three  piled  on  one  bed  and  four 
on  another).  In  such  hostelries  lodgers  are  per- 
mitted to  cook  on  a  nearby  stove  which  is  placed 
anywhere. 

The  incidents  thus  narrated  are  given  for  a  pur- 
pose. If  the  reader  had  been  present  at  the  times 
and  places  when  these  particular  victims  were 
robbed  or  mistreated  he  would  have  been  able  to 
watch  the  method  of  the  operating  scoundrels,  and 


120  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

to  notice  the  reactions — immediate  and  costly  to 
the  Nation.  Without  the  relation  of  such  in- 
cidents it  is  difficult  to  give  a  sufficiently  graphic 
idea  of  the  pitiful  dramas,  or  to  show  how  the 
Nation  suffers  as  a  consequence. 

With  these  in  mind  any  American  who  under- 
stands that  they  are  not  exceptional  but  types  of 
happenings  that  are  the  rule,  ought  to  appreciate 
the  extreme  peril  of  standing  by  and  letting 
things  drift. 

Imagine  it — a  million  or  more  persons  welcomed 
at  our  ports  during  a  prosperous  year  and  the 
better  part  of  them  (eighty  per  cent,  some  au- 
thorities say)  turned  over  to  the  tender  mercies  of 
the  depraved.  Think  of  the  suffering,  the  despair, 
the  utter  wretchedness  of  those  who  lose  the  piti- 
able little  purses  upon  which  they  rely  for  support. 
Think  of  them  as  they  realize  how  next  to  impos- 
sible it  will  be  for  them  to  now  feed  the  dependents 
with  them  (often  little  children),  or  the  possible 
dependents  in  Europe  who  picture  them  as  having 
solved  the  problems  of  life  because  they  have 
reached  golden  America. 

Meditation  of  this  sort  will  bring  a  conviction 
that  if  immigrants  did  not  resent  the  treatment 
that  they  receive,  or  are  permitted  to  receive  at  the 
hands  of  this  Nation,  they  would  be  less  than 
human  and  absolutely  undesirable  recruits.  What- 
ever may  be  said  to  their  disparagement,  it  is 
therefore  entirely  to  their  credit  that  they  resent 


Sowing  the  Seed  of  Disaffection        121 

the  indignities  which  they  suffer.  Moreover,  it  is 
not  surprising  that,  being  temperamental,  they 
await  the  time  when  they  shall  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  get  even  with  a  government  which,  if  it 
has  done  no  overt  thing  to  make  them  miserable, 
has  refrained  from  giving  them  the  protection 
which  they  may  reasonably  expect. 

The  reader  has  been  warned  heretofore  that  he 
must  never  forget  that  many  thousands  of  the 
European  immigration  of  the  period  above  re- 
ferred to  have  made  good.  These  are  exceptional 
cases  and  must  be  regarded  as  such !  Meanwhile 
if  he  desires  a  striking  confirmation  of  all  that  is 
alleged  in  regard  to  the  effect  which  has  been 
wrought  upon  the  United  States  by  its  slovenly 
handling  of  immigration,  it  will  not  be  difficult  for 
him  to  secure  this  from  one  of  these  fortunate 
ones. 

Some  time  ago  I  had  occasion  to  call  into  con- 
ference the  more  humane  employers  of  labor  in  a 
given  locality.  The  object  was  to  secure  sugges- 
tions in  regard  to  the  protection  of  immigrants 
entering  that  section.  The  group  included  men 
high  in  railroad  and  manufacturing  lines.  After 
an  opening  had  been  made  which  set  out  the 
trials  to  which  the  foreigner  is  subjected,  each 
in  turn  gave  the  company  the  benefit  of  his  counsel. 
These  were  about  what  might  be  expected  from 
any  group  of  native  and  forceful  Americans.  In 
due  course  a  retiring  but  able  manufacturer  was 


122  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

reached.  The  latter,  who  had  been  an  immigrant 
himself,  was  as  eager  to  give  his  experience  as  the 
others  were  to  listen.  Fourteen  years  before  he 
had  entered  New  York  City  without  any  knowl- 
edge of  the  Metropolis.  The  day  after  his  arrival 
he  had  occasion  to  go  to  Yonkers  and  had  asked 
for  guidance  from  a  would-be  helper  who  spoke 
his  tongue.  The  latter  in  an  apparent  spirit  of 
friendliness  was  eager  to  respond,  but  so  managed 
as  to  make  it  cost  the  newcomer  four  times  as 
much  to  reach  Yonkers  as  it  did  to  return.  The 
loss  was  a  small  one  and  but  one  of  many  that  fol- 
lowed, but  the  speaker  testified  that  he  had  never 
gotten  over  the  hurt  which  he  felt  when  he  realized 
that  he  had  been  betrayed.  From  his  earnest 
words  all  drew  the  conclusion  that  the  mature 
man  believed  that  his  whole  career  might  have 
been  disastrously  affected  because  of  the  blow 
that  his  faith  in  America  received  shortly  after 
his  landing.  In  his  argument  he  pointed  out  that 
if  he,  who  had  been  fortunate,  could  not  forget 
early  indignities,  we  might  be  sure  that  those  who 
had  suffered  severely  in  this  country  would  brood 
over  their  troubles  until  some  alleviating  incident 
turned  their  fancy  into  brighter  channels. 

In  relating  this  personal  incident  I  cannot  re- 
frain from  adding,  with  the  hope  that  it  may 
carry  its  message,  that  this  gentleman,  himself  a 
European  by  birth,  has  been  and  is  far  quicker 
than  his  fellow-citizens  of  native  stock  to  realize 


Sowing  the  Seed  of  Disaffection        123 

the  dreadful  peril  which  is  looming  over  the  Na- 
tion because  of  its  fatuity.  Moreover,  I  wish  to 
mark  that  he  and  men  like  him  are  doing  something 
to  correct  the  situation,  while  those  whose  inheri- 
tance is  endangered  are  satisfied  with  exclamations 
and  expletives. 


CHAPTER  III 

PERMITTED  EXPLOITATION 

exploitation  of  immigrants  at  the  docks 
has  been  given  as  one  of  the  causes  for  the 
bitter  feeling  that  many  newcomers  feel  for  the 
United  States. 

This  marks  the  introduction  of  new  peoples  into 
the  country  which  they  are  destined  to  occupy,  and 
frequently,  as  has  been  seen,  explains  the  beginning 
of  an  antipathy  toward  the  state  which  offers  them 
hospitality. 

If  the  mistreatment  of  the  incoming  masses 
stopped  here  it  would  be  difficult  to  eradicate 
the  memory  and  consequences  of  an  initial  wrong. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  while  many  escape 
from  entanglements  which  involve  them  upon 
landing,  the  great  majority  plunge  deeper  into  the 
snares  which  have  been  carefully  provided. 

That  the  greater  part  of  these  are  victimized 
by  their  compatriots  in  no  way  saves  the  situa- 
tion. Indeed,  it  aggravates  it  because  the  mischief 
done  is  so  easily  concealed.  If  English-speaking 
Americans  were  the  plunderers,  they  would  hardly 

124 


Permitted  Exploitation  125 

succeed  in  pushing  their  designs  without  more  or 
less  publicity.  This  would  both  warn  the  public 
and  bring  the  victim  himself  into  relations  with 
Americans  of  a  better  class.  At  present  such  a 
fortunate  result  is  impossible.  From  the  dock  the 
immigrants  go  to  the  racial  colony  without  com- 
ing into  contact  with  Americans.  Now  and  then 
a  block  of  them  are  seen  en  route  but  the  eternal 
procession  moves  in  tourist  or  smoking  cars  and 
slips  out  of  our  port  cities  at  night  controlled, 
ticketed,  and  for  the  most  part  fated.  There  is 
something  wholesale  about  this  that  is  repugnant. 
The  sentimentalist  finds  these  train  loads  anal- 
ogous to  the  little  bands  of  colonists  that  pushed 
inland  from  the  first  shore  settlements  of  the 
country  or  to  the  pioneer  trains  that  laced  the 
continent  in  later  years !  There  is  not  the  slight- 
est resemblance!  The  colonists  moved  in  an 
orderly  and  self-sufficient  manner  that  might  be 
expected  from  freedmen  who  were  dependent 
upon  themselves.  They  were  ably  if  not  magnifi- 
cently led.  The  pioneers  combined  men  and 
women  of  English  stock  and  Irish  and  German 
folk  facing  toward  a  free  and  undeveloped  land 
which  they  were  perfectly  competent  to  subjugate, 
and  everywhere  on  their  way  coming  in  contact 
with  the  resourceful  people  who  had  preceded 
them.  It  is  true  that  some  of  these  were  poor. 
McMaster  mentions  the  case  of  a  man  who 
trundled  a  wheelbarrow  with  wife  and  babe  along 


126  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

the  great  central  route  toward  the  West.  This  is 
an  incident  only — the  postroads  were  sprinkled 
with  such  pathetic  sights.  It  is  true  also  that 
some  of  the  people  who  attached  themselves  to 
the  earlier  and  later  migrations  of  home-makers 
were  bad — just  how  bad  can  be  read  in  William 
Bradford's  diary  or  in  the  account  of  travels  be- 
yond the  Mississippi  which  Vice- President  Colfax 
gave  the  country  in  the  days  when  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  was  near  ing  completion. 

Poverty,  however,  did  not  shriek  its  limitations 
nor  did  vice  control.  We  still  had  " Regulators" 
in  those  days  who  provided  law  where  no  law 
was,  and  thus  escaped  the  negation  of  law 
which  characterizes  the  industrial  American  com- 
munity of  our  times.  The  immigrant  traveled 
if  he  wished  to  in  good  company,  and  had  a 
chance  to  assist  himself  when  he  arrived  at  his 
destination. 

Contrast  now  the  journeyings  of  these  new 
argonauts.  The  label  of  the  steamship  agent  or 
contractor  who  is  handling  them  for  profit  is  the 
sole  factor  that  differentiates  them  from  com- 
modities. If  the  immigrants  are  going  a  short 
distance,  they  are  now  and  then  patronized  by 
official-looking  fakers  who  relieve  the  monotony 
of  travel  (as  in  cases  on  record)  by  demanding  a 
gold  coin  from  each  for  some  service  already  pro- 
vided; but  aside  from  this  sort  of  thing  they  are 
absolutely  out  of  touch  with  anything  American 


Permitted  Exploitation  127 

unless  it  be  the  scenery  which  slips  by  them  in  the 
hours  of  daylight. 

This  brings  the  travelers  to  the  colony  for  which 
they  are  destined.  Here  are  sometimes  friends 
or  fellow-townsmen — at  least  people  from  the 
same  country.  There  is  something  more — to  the 
everlasting  shame  of  the  United  States  be  it  said — 
a  miniature  replica  of  the  worst  part  of  an  Italian 
town,  of  a  Jugo-Slav  village,  of  an  Armenian 
suburb,  or  of  a  Jewish  ghetto.  Patch  the  colonies 
of  almost  any  manufacturing  town  in  our  indus- 
trial States  together  and  you  will  have  a  motley 
carpet,  bigger  than  the  combined  sections  of  the 
same  town  which  is  inhabited  by  Americans  who 
cherish  American  traditions.  Immigrants  can 
pass  their  time  within  the  borders  of  these  colonies 
therefore  without  sensing  the  existence  of  a  world 
outside. 

Once  in  ten  years  the  Government  makes  a 
numbering  of  the  inhabitants.  They  comprise, 
as  is  elsewhere  indicated,  the  greater  part  of  the 
population  of  these  same  States.  Here  the  new- 
comer finds  his  fellow-countrymen  living  like  rats. 
Sometimes,  as  in  the  case  of  Neapolitans  and  the 
former  inmates  of  European  ghettos,  they  are 
used  to  this — sometimes  they  like  it.  Whether 
they  like  it  or  not,  it  spells  the  fate  of  the  majority 
who  learn  to  drift  through  these  lanes  and  alleys 
as  hopeless  as  the  unburied  ghosts  of  Acheron. 

Tired  and  somewhat   discouraged  by  mishan- 


128  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

dling  the  alien  opens  his  heart  to  those  who  are  on 
hand  to  welcome  him.  Perhaps  there  is  a  public 
meeting  to  bring  him  into  agreeable  relations  with 
that  part  of  the  leading  men  who  expect  to  provide 
for  their  own  support  out  of  his  perplexities.  Per- 
haps this  is  done  privately.  In  either  event  he 
has  a  few  hours  of  satisfaction  in  viewing  the 
enameled  bath  tubs  which  kind-hearted  sociolo- 
gists have  provided  for  coalbins  in  the  homes  of 
those  who  are  to  be  his  neighbors.  When  these 
are  passed  he  finds  himself  domiciled  with  many 
like  himself  in  great  tenements  or  overcrowded 
apartments  which  supply  bunking-room  only  for 
personal  privacy,  and  which  are  dismal  prototypes 
of  the  lodgings  he  will  occupy  for  the  better  part 
of  his  life.  Sometimes  he  gets  his  meals  over  a 
common  cookstove  in  an  unventilated  hall.  Some- 
times he  forms  one  of  a  mess  which  pays  ex- 
travagantly for  unnutritious  food,  and  sometimes 
he  is  admitted  to  a  family  circle  which  crowds 
from  two  to  six  boarders  into  quarters  none  too 
large  for  themselves. 

At  first  he  accepts  what  offers  in  the  way  of 
room  and  board  as  emergency  provision — later 
he  learns  that  he  cannot  do  much  better.  In  any 
event  he  has  got  to  pay  for  what  he  receives  poor 
though  it  may  be,  and  therefore  he  is  early  in- 
ducted into  a  job  and  becomes  one  of  a  construc- 
tion gang  or  part  and  parcel  of  a  machine. 

Up  to  the  hour  of  employment  which  marks 


Permitted  Exploitation  129 

the  period  in  which  the  immigrant  is  geared  up  to 
American  industrialism  (not  American  life),  this 
modern  pilgrim,  if  sound  physically  and  mentally, 
may  have  given  evidence  of  characteristics  which, 
properly  developed,  would  have  been  an  asset  to 
the  United  States.  If  so,  it  will  be  surprising  if 
such  signs  manifest  themselves  again.  The  vic- 
tim is  caught  in  the  pull  of  a  tide  as  inexorable  as 
the  current  which  hurls  anything  afloat  on  its 
surface  over  the  precipitous  rocks  of  Niagara.  So 
viscous  is  it  with  immoralities  of  decadent  civiliza- 
tions that  the  victim  cannot  strike  out;  so  heavy 
with  devilish  intrigue  that  his  thinking  faculties 
are  suffocated. 

Our  platform  men  tell  of  the  wide  prairies  and 
cheerful  neighborhood  communities  of  America, 
with  their  transforming  and  rehabilitating  effect 
upon  the  quickly  assimilated  immigrants.  This 
is  a  pipe  dream ! 

The  nearest  that  the  average  newcomer  (who, 
statistics  and  the  evidence  of  our  eyes  tell  us, 
stays  in  the  crowded  States)  gets  to  the  better  life 
of  America  is  the  show-windows  that  dazzle  his 
eyes  with  electricity,  the  policed  parks,  and  the 
glimpses  which  he  secures  on  holidays  of  the 
" well-to-do."  Work  in  the  close  companionship 
of  other  aliens  with  an  occasional  strike  by  way 
of  excitement,  and  loitering  about  the  racial  streets 
and  headquarters  he  inhabits,  occupy  all  the  time 
when  the  so-called  immigrant  is  not  eating  or 


130  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

sleeping.  It  is  a  dismal  fact  therefore  that  the 
America  of  his  dreams,  the  America  that  was  to 
give  him  a  chance,  is  farther  from  him  in  Woon- 
socket  or  Paterson  than  it  was  in  Palermo  or 
Warsaw. 

I  have  thought  it  wise  to  suggest  the  environ- 
ment of  the  alien  and  the  method  of  his  en- 
tanglement therewith  in  order  to  the  better  explain 
the  working  of  the  agencies  which  deprive  him 
of  his  money  and  his  individuality.  Now  that 
this  has  been  done  (cursorily  enough  it  is  true), 
we  can  follow  his  movements  better.  These  are 
practically  controlled  by  the  coteries  to  whom 
reference  has  been  frequently  made  and  which 
are  to  the  foreign  colony  what  the  intriguing 
low-grade  political  cliques  are  to  a  metropolitan 
city. 

Does  the  immigrant  need  to  have  a  broken  limb 
set,  a  tooth  pulled,  or  an  affidavit  made — the 
coterie  supplies  any  and  all  wants.  Does  he  need 
advice  as  to  exchange,  or  the  transmission  of 
money  to  dependents  at  home — the  coterie  can 
arrange  all  such  matters,  providing  a  banker  if  it 
is  not  in  the  banking  business  itself.  Does  he 
need  a  readjustment  of  wages  or  employment,  a 
newspaper,  instruction  regarding  matters  in  the 
home  country  or  further  information  regarding 
the  new  country — all  these  services  are  performed 
by  the  coterie.  Thus  the  coterie  lives  for  the 
wretched  person  who  has  come  under  its  domina- 


Permitted  Exploitation  131 

tion — breathes  for  him — and  to  some  degree  spends 
his  money  for  him. 

Our  fathers  were  keenly  stirred  by  slavery  in 
the  South,  and  every  now  and  then  civilization 
makes  an  outcry  over  some  tale  of  peonage  which 
reaches  its  ears.  While  I  am  bound  to  confess  that 
both  slavery  and  peonage  are  hideous  foes  because 
of  their  frank  interference  with  human  rights,  it 
is  a  question  in  my  mind  whether  either  exerts  a 
more  numbing  effect  upon  the  souls  and  therefore 
upon  the  characters  of  those  whom  they  control 
than  does  the  mischievous  surveillance  above  ad- 
verted to.  Its  existence  constitutes  in  itself  a 
severe  arraignment  of  our  commercial  shrewdness 
and  of  our  political  sagacity. 

Meantime  this  surveillance  exists,  and,  as  every 
logical  brain  possessed  of  the  premises  will  con- 
clude without  calling  for  evidence,  provides  a 
cover  to  numberless  evil  practices  and  fraudulent 
contrivances  for  the  outwitting  of  our  non-English- 
speaking  population.  The  victims  are  without 
redress  because  they  do  not  know  our  laws. 

Heretofore  history  has  furnished  humanity 
with  numerous  instances  of  what  the  law  phrases 
as  felonies  and  misdemeanors  committed  in  dis- 
organized aggregations  of  men  with  but  little  other 
fear  of  punishment  than  may  be  provided  by  the 
blood-avenger. 

During  our  own  era  civilization  has  been 
prodigal  in  its  exhibition  of  crimes  committed  in 


132  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

defiance  of  the  law.  It  has  remained  for  the 
American  democracy  to  work  out  a  plan  by  which 
miscreants  working  under  the  mantle  of  legal  in- 
stitutions can  without  penalty  commit  any  illegal 
atrocity  which  is  not  of  a  character  to  divulge  its 
own  secret. 

It  is  impossible  to  catalogue  these  atrocities, 
but  it  should  be  said  that  in  spite  of  the  reports  of 
estimable  Commissions  the  public  still  appears  to 
be  absolutely  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  the  foreign 
centers  in  America  are  hotbeds  of  the  sort  of  evil 
insinuation  and  innuendo  which  bring  wretched- 
ness to  the  person  who  is  threatened  with  libel ous 
publication  or  with  slanderous  statements. 

When  this  is  taken  into  consideration  together 
with  the  fact  that  panaceas  for  every  ill  and  in- 
genuous prospectuses  for  the  accumulation  of 
fortunes  are  peddled  from  door  to  door,  one  won- 
ders that  any  foreigner,  not  himself  a  trickster, 
escapes  the  patent  snares  that  are  spread  for  him. 
If  he  does,  attractive  advertisements  in  the  foreign 
press  are  too  sure  to  lure  the  individual  possessed 
of  funds  into  singular  investments. 

I  cannot  refrain  from  relating  an  incident  which 
is  vocal  in  the  revelation  it  makes  of  the  ingenu- 
ousness of  the  immigrant.  It  is  at  the  same  time 
fairly  illustrative  of  the  tests  that  are  made  of 
his  credulity. 

As  a  result  of  scheming  based  upon  a  shrewd 
knowledge  of  the  alien's  psychology  there  came 


Permitted  Exploitation  133 

to  the  addresses  of  Poles  located  in  various  colonies 
of  industrial  states,  a  glittering  proposition.  This 
offered  the  talented  and  ambitious  Polander  who 
desired  to  better  himself  a  quick  method  of  writing 
perfectly  legible  English.  The  only  requisite  was 
an  early  application  to  be  accompanied  by  the 
insignificant  sum  of  fifteen  dollars.  To  the  enter- 
prising foreigner  with  money  in  the  bank  this  was 
an  "open  sesame"  to  fortune.  Balked  and 
thwarted  in  his  efforts  to  get  ahead  by  his  complete 
ignorance  of  the  vernacular,  and  with  a  childlike 
faith  in  the  printed  communication  because  it 
was  written  in  Polish  and  flattered  his  vanity, 
he  made  haste  to  ask  that  the  contrivance  be  sent 
him  and  forwarded  his  money  through  postal 
channels.  There  was  enough  delay  to  allow  the 
devisers  of  this  trick  to  hear  from  as  large  a 
circle  as  possible  (the  victims  were  numerous 
and  widely  separated),  and  then  there  was  mailed 
to  each  a  toy  representation  of  a  typewriter. 

It  can  be  added  that  this  particular  matter 
came  to  the  attention  of  American  citizens  and 
was  straightway  referred  to  the  Post  Office 
Department. 

Trivial  in  itself  it  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  kind 
of  snares  that  are  laid  for  the  unwary.  It  is  true 
that  we  have  our  clever  confidence  men  in  this 
country,  but  such  people  work  to  a  disadvantage 
because  the  language  medium  which  they  use  is 
that  of  the  police,  and  because  of  a  natural  wari- 


134  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

ness  which  is  characteristic  of  our  people.  The 
slick  and  adroit  racial  chiefs  who  handle  the 
immigrant  by  wholesale  rarely  allow  themselves  to 
be  identified  with  these  foreign  colony  rogues, 
however  splendid  their  peculations.  They  pose 
as  respectable  residents  if  not  as  philanthropists 
and  carry  on  their  maneuvers  under  the  apparent 
guise  of  law,  mulcting  communities  by  excessive 
charges,  unrighteous  commissions,  and  the  per- 
formance of  unnecessary  services  which  require  a 
gratuity.  Meantime  these  headmen  create  an 
atmosphere  in  which  depraved  and  corrupt  persons 
thrive  in  full  consciousness  that  the  man  higher 
up  will  not  dare,  in  view  of  his  own  record,  to 
betray  them. 

Thus  robbery,  fraud,  licentious  trade,  and  every 
form  of  felony  and  misdemeanor  flourish  unre- 
buked  in  the  foreign  colonies,  presumably  because 
the  American  people  fail  to  see  that  such  conditions 
bear  upon  their  national  future.  They  may  be 
right  in  their  apparent  assurance  that  the  country 
is  vigorous  enough  to  throw  the  poison  out  of  its 
system,  but  I  cannot  disguise  from  myself  the  fact 
that  these  colonies  not  only  offer  a  premium  to 
vice,  but  have  a  tendency  to  stamp  out  whatever 
is  fine  in  well-meaning  manhood  or  womanhood. 

What  hope  will  there  be  for  the  democracy 
when  the  inhabitants  of  these  colonies  outnumber, 
as  they  will  soon  do,  the  law-abiding  and  God- 
fearing part  of  the  community? 


CHAPTER  IV 

MACHINERY   FOR   REVOLUTION 

INASMUCH  as  few  understand  the  way  in  which 
*  the  bad  leaven  of  bitterness,  because  of  ex- 
ploitation, works,  it  will  be  well  to  follow  an 
immigrant  who  has  been  robbed  of  a  considerable 
part  of  his  possessions,  to  the  colony  center  which 
has  become  his  home,  and  to  mark  the  way  in 
which  this  unit  coalesces  with  other  similar  units 
into  an  organized  body  of  discontent. 

Lodging  as  this  alien  does  in  an  overcrowded 
tenement,  he  welcomes  an  opportunity  to  get  into 
the  public  squares  or  streets  where  he  will  be  sure 
to  listen  to  the  harangues  of  soap-box  orators. 
These  almost  without  exception  dwell  upon  the 
exactions  and  extortions  of  capitalism.  To  the 
heated  fancy  of  the  speakers  every  government 
that  is  not  controlled  by  Sovietism  is  a  creature 
of  depraved  and  greedy  conspirators,  and  has  no 
other  interest  in  the  poor  than  to  make  use  of 
them. 

This  sort  of  appeal  explains  to  the  immigrant 
the  experiences  through  which  he  has  just  passed. 

135 


136  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

Although  he  knows  that  he  was  beggared  by  the 
connivance  of  men  and  women  of  his  own  racial 
stock,  he  is  led  to  believe  that  if  the  official  class 
were  other  than  the  emissaries  of  the  well-to-do — 
if  in  fact  they  were  disinterested — this  would  never 
have  been  permitted.  As  a  result,  from  being 
cross  he  becomes  ugly.  America  no  longer  appeals 
to  him  as  it  did  when  he  first  set  his  face  toward 
its  shores.  He  grits  his  teeth  as  he  thinks  of  the 
deception  played  upon  him,  and  listens  atten- 
tively to  the  Red  orator  who  understands  per- 
fectly what  is  passing  in  his  mind,  and  plays  upon 
his  feelings  with  no  uncertain  touch. 

Such  are  the  first  steps  in  the  training  of  a  revo- 
lutionist. Just  how  far  the  traveler  will  go  along 
this  road  depends  much  upon  his  disposition  and 
employment.  Rarely  does  he  stop  this  side  of  the 
radical  meeting  halls  where  he  was  taught  anarchy 
in  the  old  days  and  is  taught  Bolshevism  at  the 
present  hour.  Intensely  human  as  has  been 
seen,  he  will  be  satisfied  in  accepting  Red  theories 
as  a  philosophy  if  he  begins  to  earn  money  and  is 
able  to  supply  his  own  wants  and  those  of  his 
family.  Meantime  there  is  no  limit  at  which  he 
will  stop  if  things  go  against  him  and  he  is  unable 
to  sell  his  labor.  Then  his  ire  is  fanned  to  a  white 
blaze  by  starvation,  family  trouble,  and  pinching 
want.  He  loses  his  balance,  disregards  his  own 
peril  and  having  nothing  to  live  for  actually  en- 
gages himself  in  deliberate  plots  which  involve 


Machinery  for  Revolution  137 

murder  and  arson.  The  hand  of  society  is  against 
him  and  his  hand  is  against  society,  and  the  pitiful 
part  of  it  all  is  that  it  might  have  been  different,  if 
Americans  had  shown  a  little  of  the  crass  common 
sense  which  distinguished  their  ancestors,  or  even 
a  very  faint  appreciation  of  the  Golden  Rule. 

Let  no  one  suppose  that  the  picture  thus  por- 
trayed is  exceptional.  What  is  true  of  one  im- 
migrant has  been  true  of  eighty  per  cent  of  all  the 
persons  who  have  entered  our  harbors  for  the  last 
forty  or  fifty  years.  It  will  be  seen  therefore  that 
bad  as  the  material  is  from  which  we  have  drawn 
for  labor  to  build  our  streets  and  sewers  and  do  the 
unskilled  work  in  our  factories,  and  unfortunate 
as  have  been  the  traditions  and  environment  of 
the  incoming  host,  we  have  to  blame  ourselves 
rather  than  it  for  the  revolutionary  sentiment 
which  possesses  it.  Briefly  characterized  it  may 
be  spoken  of  as  an  aggregation  within  an  aggre- 
gation. While  there  is  a  drift  of  the  foreign 
element  into  the  Nation,  the  great  mass  of  aliens 
is  segregated  in  its  own  colonies.  These  con- 
stitute a  conglomerate  state  within  a  state,  and 
by  means  of  communication  to  be  later  touched 
upon,  preserve  a  solidarity  which  is  the  more 
disquieting  because  of  the  attraction  which  it 
exerts  upon  naturalized  but  alien-minded  citizens. 

An  incident  in  my  own  experience  will  illustrate. 
In  1912  or  thereabouts  there  was  an  industrial 
strike  in  a  great  manufacturing  center.  I  have 


138  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

forgotten  the  issue,  but  it  was  manifestly  between 
the  non-English-speaking  labor  of  the  community 
and  the  employers  of  labor.  All  the  machinery  of 
the  Federal  and  State  Governments  was  at  once 
applied  to  a  correction  of  conditions.  No  other 
result  followed  than  is  perceived  when  an  auto- 
mobile engine  is  speeded  up  without  throwing  the 
gears  into  mesh.  Conciliatory  agents  assembled 
and  proposed  various  schemes  to  alleviate  the 
situation.  Less  attention  was  accorded  them 
than  can  be  secured  by  an  ordinary  dog  which 
bays  at  the  moon.  The  latter  is  a  nuisance,  the 
former  were  negligible.  At  last  the  situation  re- 
solved itself  into  this.  A  very  fair  percentage  of 
the  people  in  the  whole  city,  alleged  to  be  forty 
thousand  in  number,  none  of  whom  could  speak 
English  more  than  indifferently  and  most  of  whom 
were  absolutely  ignorant  of  the  language,  gathered 
at  stated  meeting  places  and  chose  a  council  made 
up  of  all  races.  This  conference  or  controlling 
unit  issued  its  edicts  and  guided  a  campaign  which 
shortly  threatened  lives  and  property.  There- 
fore the  civil  government  called  up  nearby  muni- 
cipalities for  assistance  and  endeavored  at  the 
eleventh  hour  to  organize  as  capable  a  force  for 
the  protection  of  vested  interests  as  was  the  army 
directed  by  the  alien  committee. 

They  were  supposed  to  have  organized  govern- 
ment on  their  side  and  all  the  resources  of  a  power- 
ful state,  but  an  appreciable  part  of  the  population 


Machinery  for  Revolution  139 

were  disinclined  to  recognize  any  other  will  than 
their  own.  Moreover,  those  who  were  outside  of 
the  legal  pale  knew  what  they  wanted  and  were 
unembarrassed  by  clumsy  legislation.  They  were 
opportunists,  and  showed  the  faculty  that  abides 
in  all  men,  even  savages,  to  provide  emergency 
machinery.  Therefore  they  had  the  civil  au- 
thorities at  a  disadvantage,  and  while  making 
such  demonstrations  in  force  as  pleased  them, 
encouraged  an  unruly  group  to  interfere  with  the 
movement  of  peaceful  people  and  generally  make 
themselves  obnoxious. 

Naturally  the  citizens  of  the  State  thus  hu- 
miliated were  intensely  indignant.  Men  did  not 
hesitate  to  say  hard  things  against  the  foreigners. 
The  press  flamed  into  pithy  paragraphs.  Condi- 
tions were  unthinkable.  Such  manifestations  as 
had  been  made  were  revolutionary. 

In  so  far  as  aliens  are  subject  to  the  State  which 
shows  them  hospitality,  the  newspapers  were  to  a 
degree  right  in  characterizing  the  action  of  the 
recalcitrants  as  revolutionary.  Meantime  they 
would  have  been  more  nearly  correct  if  they  had 
described  the  defiance  of  municipal  law  by  a  great 
body  of  aliens  as  an  act  of  foreign,  not  civil  war. 
The  fact  that  the  foreigners  were  on  the  soil  of  the 
outraged  State  merely  aggravated  matters. 

There  was  then,  as  has  been  stated,  a  great 
outcry.  Meantime  it  was  perfectly  apparent— 

I. — That    a    commonwealth    (Massachusetts), 


140  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

whose  records  show  a  great  contribution  to  the 
cause  of  democratic  government,  was  absolutely 
without  the  civil  machinery  to  guard  rights  of  life, 
liberty,  and  property  guaranteed  to  every  citizen 
under  her  constitution ; 

2. — That  a  knot  of  foreigners  located  in  a  famous 
Massachusetts  town  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  they  presumably  represented  as  many  tongues 
as  were  heard  after  the  dispersion  at  Babel,  were 
in  a  better  position  to  work  their  will  than  was  the 
police  force  of  the  State  if  the  latter  be  taken  apart 
from  the  military.  The  truth  of  this  is  demon- 
strated by  the  action  of  the  Governor  then  in 
office,  who  called  out  the  soldiery  and  placed  the 
community  under  martial  law. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  solidarity  of  the 
various  elements  which  make  up  the  foreign  group, 
and  the  manner  in  which  these  (constituting  a 
state  within  a  state)  can  by  the  creation  of  a  resi- 
dent committee  control  their  following  in  any 
given  center.  Let  us  see  now  how  a  committee  of 
this  nature  is  in  a  position  to  dictate  the  action  of 
the  masses  which  it  represents. 

After  the  militia  had  been  summoned  to  the  in- 
dustrial community  referred  to,  now  become  the 
seat  of  war,  the  commanding  officer  made  a  wise 
disposition  of  his  troops  and  with  excellent  judg- 
ment endeavored  to  limit  their  activities  to  such 
offices  as  might  be  performed  by  a  sheriff's  posse. 
Mills  and  public  places  were  guarded,  mob-like 


Machinery  for  Revolution  141 

gatherings  were  prohibited,  and  an  effort  was  made 
to  keep  the  crowds  upon  the  sidewalks  moving. 

If  the  foreign  council  had  possessed  any  respect 
for  law,  it  could  by  its  powerful  cooperation  have 
immediately  brought  about  a  peaceful  and  normal 
condition  favorable  to  the  discussion  of  the  indus- 
trial difficulties  which  had  arisen.  That  this  was 
far  from  its  object  became  at  once  apparent ;  ugly 
taunts  and  epithets  were  leveled  at  the  soldiers 
by  the  mob  that  accepted  the  bidding  of  the  strike 
committee.  The  reasonable  orders  of  officers  and 
patrols  were  directly  disobeyed,  and  the  situation 
instead  of  improving  became  so  tense  that  the 
conservative  officer  in  charge  was  driven  to  issue 
general  orders,  instructing  the  militia  to  shoot 
under  certain  conditions,  and  warning  the  popu- 
lace by  properly  bulletined  placards.  It  was  at 
this  juncture  that  an  association  which  was  en- 
deavoring to  break  down  the  barriers  which 
prevent  the  assimilation  of  immigrants,  offered  to 
see  that  the  warning  placards  were  printed  in 
different  languages.  This  it  was  felt  would  meet 
the  possible  charge  that  the  firm  instructions 
given  were  misunderstood.  No  sooner  was  the 
suggestion  made  than  it  was  adopted.  As  quickly 
as  was  practicable  the  placards  were  prepared  in 
Polish,  French,  Italian,  Syrian,  Greek,  and  other 
languages. 

Then  there  arose  an  unlocked  for  difficulty — 
bulletins  in  English  already  tacked  to  the  fences 


142  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

and  telegraph  poles  had  been  torn  down.  Steps 
must  be  taken  to  prevent  the  further  demolition 
of  such  literature  unless  the  rational  endeavor  to 
prevent  bloodshed  was  to  prove  worse  than  futile. 
Accordingly  arrangements  were  made  to  get  in 
touch  with  the  foreign  council  through  a  group  of 
carefully  chosen  agents  who  had  long  been  active 
in  charitable  work  among  immigrants.  The  over- 
tures of  these  emissaries  were  tentatively  received, 
but  the  messengers  who  asked  the  council  as  a 
matter  of  humanity  to  discourage  the  tearing 
down  of  military  bulletins  were  flatly  refused. 
As  a  consequence  the  State  which  had  welcomed 
and  protected  the  insurgent  aliens  was  denied  an 
opportunity  to  communicate  with  them  by  a  power 
within  the  State's  own  territory  which  in  such 
matters  appeared  to  be  paramount. 

Before  this  happening  I  had  familiarized  myself 
with  studies  and  surveys  of  the  foreign  people  in 
America,  and  believed  that  industrial  chiefs  who 
took  laborers  of  different  races  into  their  employ  on 
the  ground  that  it  would  be  difficult  for  these  to 
organize,  were  correct. 

If  I  remember  rightly  the  Pittsburg  survey  of 
many  years  ago  had  presented  data  showing  a 
will  on  the  part  of  the  different  racial  elements  to 
combine,  and  the  beginnings  of  some  machinery  to 
this  end,  but  I  was  a  sceptic  until  the  opportunity 
came  for  personal  observation — then  there  was  a 
rude  awakening.  That  was  ten  years  ago.  The 


Machinery  for  Revolution  143 

end  then  desired  was  a  raise  in  the  wage  scale- 
Readers  who  recall  the  period  and  the  contro- 
versy will  differ  in  their  conclusions,  but  all  will 
have  to  agree  that  the  campaign  projected  at  that 
time  by  the  I.  W.  W.  agencies  was  handled  with- 
out apparent  discord.  It  will  also  be  remembered 
that  while  the  sovereignty  of  Massachusetts  was 
vindicated  in  the  end,  the  main  object  of  the 
demonstrating  mobs  was  accomplished.  The  mob 
was  overawed,  but  the  pay  roll  of  the  New  England 
mills  advanced  several  millions. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  this  particular 
event,  in  itself  an  historic  one,  to  illustrate  the 
compactness  and  power  of  an  alien  district 
committee.  Since  the  date  referred  to  hundreds 
of  incidents  have  occurred  to  confirm  the  conclu- 
sion of  those  who  are  sagacious  enough  to  accept 
the  experience  as  a  warning  if  not  a  threat.  Such 
persons  can  hardly  avoid  feeling  that  when  men 
who  speak  different  languages  and  who  are  of 
widely  different  temperaments  and  tastes  can 
forget  racial  feuds  which  undoubtedly  exist  and 
act  in  perfect  unison  against  authority  there  is 
occasion  for  municipal  and  state  governments  to 
handle  themselves  accordingly. 

Meantime  we  shall  err  seriously  if  we  conclude 
that  the  faculty  of  organization  is  confined  to  the 
groups  of  foreigners  who  occupy  specific  towns  and 
cities.  To  the  contrary  when  facts  are  gathered 
inductively  we  find  that  every  important  com- 


144  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

munity  in  the  United  States  has  in  proportion  to 
the  number  of  foreigners  resident  therein  a  more 
or  less  capable  nucleus  of  alien  schemers  and 
plotters  which  on  call  can,  and  we  may  be  sure 
will,  attract  to  itself  disaffected  masses  of  the  non- 
English-speaking  people.  This  discovery  justifies 
the  statement  that  the  segregated  foreign  colonies 
or  the  segregated  groups  of  foreign  colonies  in  the 
United  States,  notwithstanding  an  excellent 
animus  on  the  part  of  many  individuals  are  as 
alien  to  the  interests  of  the  whole  people  and  the 
people's  recognized  government  as  they  are  alien 
in  character. 

Unfortunately  it  is  impossible  to  stop  with  the 
colony  or  colony  group  which  may  be  a  menace  to 
an  isolated  community.  The  thing  that  renders 
the  whole  situation  extraordinary  and  without 
precedent  is  the  correlation  and  coordination  of 
these  colonies  so  that  just  as  cities  and  towns  are 
part  and  parcel  of  the  Nation,  they  become  part 
and  parcel  of  a  loosely  organized  but  shrewdly  di- 
rected entity,  which  is  as  well  fitted  to  express  their 
combined  view  as  the  Federal  Power  is  to  reflect 
the  sentiment  of  the  whole  people. 

It  is  true  that  this  centralization  of  the  alien 
forces  in  the  United  States  is  difficult  to  describe 
with  any  satisfaction.  That  is  why  I  deemed  it 
wise  to  give  first  consideration  to  the  town  and 
city  junta  with  which  everyone  who  keeps  in 
touch  with  the  movements  of  the  hour  is  more  or 


Machinery  for  Revolution  145 

less  familiar,  and  which  has  frequently  been  seen  in 
action. 

This  directive  power  is  not  identical  with  the 
head  agencies  of  the  proletariat  or  part  and  parcel 
of  the  Third  International,  although  we  have 
reason  to  believe  that  it  is  not  unsympathetic  with 
the  Red  program.  It  is  not  to  be  confused  with 
the  body  which  controls  the  Industrial  Workers 
of  the  World  under  whatever  name  the  latter 
masquerades. 

If  one  may  dare  a  paradox — it  exists  and  it  does 
not  exist.  That  is  to  say,  it  has  not  the  concrete 
existence  that  rabid  revolutionists  would  claim  for 
it,  and  yet  the  potentialities  and  the  means  of 
directing  these  are  not  to  be  questioned. 

In  default  of  some  better  way  of  conveying  my 
impression  to  those  who  would  prefer  the  sort  of 
defined  statement  which  to  my  mind  cannot  be 
given,  I  submit  the  following.  Every  foreign 
contingent  in  this  country  is  represented  to  a  de- 
gree by  a  national  society  or  by  several  national 
societies,  and  each  of  these  societies  is  made  up 
from,  or  is  in  touch  with,  state  subsidiaries  and 
hundreds  of  city,  town,  and  district  clubs.  These 
local  organizations  reflect  the  policies  of  the  na- 
tional office,  and  if  they  are  not  in  cordial  relations 
with  all  the  racial  contingents  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, are  perfectly  informed  as  to  the  method  of 
reaching  these  in  time  of  need.  Some  of  them 
exercise  an  excellent  influence — some  are  entirely 


146  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

out  of  sympathy  with  American  standards.  Most 
of  them  have  those  on  their  official  Boards  who 
either  put  their  racial  interests  above  the  interests 
of  the  American  people  or  are  responsive  to  radical 
influences  in  or  outside  of  their  organizations. 

Again  each  considerable  group  of  foreigners  in 
the  country  supports  a  foreign  language  paper  or 
papers  which  have  a  wide  circulation  and  which 
review  all  public  questions  from  an  alien  angle. 
A  very  fair  proportion  of  these  are  conducted  by 
men  who  are  enemies  of  society  as  organized  in 
the  United  States.  These  discuss  matters  which 
interest  their  clientele  and  define  the  policies  of 
from  a  thousand  to  fifteen  hundred  less  ambitious 
periodicals. 

Let  us  imagine  now  that  the  headquarters  office 
of  the  Proletariat  in  New  York — Soviet  emissaries 
— or  the  central  conclave  of  such  Red  societies  as 
are  behind  constant  agitation  for  the  overturn- 
ing of  existing  institutions,  desire  to  start  some- 
thing revolutionary  or  take  advantage  of  some 
industrial  outbreak.  They  will  have  first  their 
skilled  plotters  and  agents  who  are  fully  informed 
as  to  ways  and  means.  They  will  also  have  the 
radical  element  in  the  national  foreign  societies 
and  the  foreign  press  as  avenues  through  which  to 
send  out  their  pronunciamentos,  and  as  aids  in  the 
development  of  whatever  campaign  they  design. 

Here  then  is  the  machinery  ready  to  be  installed 
for  the  purpose  of  frustrating  the  national  will, 


Machinery  for  Revolution  147 

but  so  bestowed  that  it  is  difficult  to  challenge  its 
right  to  exist.  I  sincerely  hope  that  the  reader 
will  not  undervalue  its  significance.  In  these 
days  revolution  does  not  arm  in  the  open.  It 
laughs  at  Parker  and  his  men  drawn  across  the 
road  at  Lexington.  It  jeers  at  the  devotion  which 
led  a  few  resolute  farmers  to  defy  a  uniformed  and 
experienced  soldiery.  It  prefers  to  bore  from 
within,  to  diffuse  its  poison  in  the  dark,  and  utter 
its  call  for  preparation  along  permitted  lines  or 
through  unseen  channels.  This  explains  unsigned 
revolutionary  literature  which  is  as  regularly  if 
not  as  frequently  circulated  as  the  daily  paper 
in  all  industrial  centers;  the  appeals  sandwiched 
in  between  news  items  in  the  foreign  periodicals, 
and  the  bold  exhortations  to  revolution  which  are 
made  in  a  language  other  than  English. 

Whatever  the  reader  may  think  of  the  value  of 
the  machinery  for  organization  which  the  alien 
element  in  America  has  in  its  self -consciousness 
hammered  into  some  sort  of  form,  the  Soviet 
emissary  understands  perfectly  that  he  has  a  for- 
midable engine  at  hand  which  can  easily  be  made 
to  function.  He  also  knows  that  millions  of 
money  and  millions  of  men  at  the  disposition  of 
this  Government  are  of  less  value  to  the  authori- 
ties than  the  incomparable  advantage  he  secures 
by  working  in  foreign  languages  that  are  a  closed 
book  to  Americans.  This  permits  him  if  he  choose 
or  when  he  may  choose  to  strike  at  the  govern- 


148  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

ment  which  protects  him,  without  leaving  the 
open  and  to  masquerade  as  a  friend  when  he  is  an 
enemy.  With  this  advantage  secured  to  him  and 
perfectly  conscious  of  the  immunity  from  arrest 
which  American  principles  provide  for  license  of 
speech,  he  is  at  present  giving  his  best  time  to 
working  up  revolutionary  sentiment  in  such  local 
foreign  papers  and  foreign  clubs  as  are  not  at 
present  sufficiently  advanced.  Inasmuch  as  these 
are  the  elementary  units  of  alien  sentiment  and 
expression,  this  chapter  will  not  be  complete  with- 
out analyzing  them  more  particularly  even  at  the 
cost  of  repetition. 

Foreign  clubs  are  of  various  character.  A  sur- 
vey made  for  Boston  some  years  ago  showed  that 
there  were  eighty-three  such  organizations  in  that 
city  which  were  catalogued  as  civic.  This  is  sug- 
gestive !  On  further  inquiry  it  appeared  that  the 
bulk  of  these  might  be  characterized  as  endowment 
societies.  As  such  they  are  not  only  open  to  the 
objections  which  are  offered  to  organizations  of 
this  class  that  are  not  properly  supervised,  but  be- 
cause of  the  language  bar  they  may  readily  be 
used  by  scheming  persons  who  have  their  personal 
interests  rather  than  those  of  the  community  in 
view.  Such  societies  become  the  media  for  propa- 
ganda, but  for  the  most  part  require  less  attention 
than  others  which  are  of  a  public  nature. 

Of  these  some  are  literary  or  for  self -improve- 
ment. They  serve  a  purpose  and  are  not  to  be 


Machinery  for  Revolution  149 

criticized.  This  leaves  the  clubs  which  reflect  racial 
or  national  aspirations  which  have  already  been 
adverted  to,  and  the  radical  societies.  While  the 
first  are  a  natural  avenue  through  which  a  self- 
expatriated  population  may  keep  the  mother 
country  in  mind,  they  regrettably  but  lawfully 
serve  to  shut  out  the  standards  and  customs  of  the 
United  States,  and  thus  serve  innocently  enough 
to  divert  the  interest  of  their  members  and  of 
those  with  whom  their  members  come  in  touch, 
from  the  concerns  of  the  democracy  in  which  they 
live. 

That  this  is  a  grave  evil  even  in  time  of  peace 
will  be  conceded  by  anyone  who  realizes  the  char- 
acter of  a  popular  government  which  is  fickle  and 
cannot  thrive  to  advantage  if  other  questions 
than  those  which  concern  its  well-being  have  the 
attention  of  a  fair  percentage  of  its  population. 
But  the  mischief  worked  by  these  clubs  does  not 
end  here.  They  have  a  fatal  attraction  for 
naturalized  citizens,  many  of  whom  have  secured 
the  franchise  because  of  the  stupid  urgency  of 
thoughtless  Americans.  They  are  always  centers 
of  intrigue  and  because  of  their  connections  with 
political  parties  abroad  may  at  any  time  cause 
grave  embarrassment  to  the  Federal  Department 
of  State.  They  are  distinct  assets  to  an  alien 
enemy  which  may  readily  use  them  for  secret 
service  purposes.  And  last  but  not  least,  because 
of  their  superb  organization  and  respectable  char- 


150  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

acter  they  can  readily  be  made  the  tool  of  revolu- 
tionists who  understand  much  better  than  do 
Americans  how  little  the  rank  and  file  in  most  of 
these  aggregations  know  about  the  United  States 
and  the  problems  that  it  is  solving  for  humanity. 

So  much  for  the  foreign  societies  with  racial 
objects  in  view,  almost  without  number,  in  the 
United  States.  I  believe  and  have  stated  that  I 
think  it  natural  for  aliens  resident  in  this  country 
to  get  together  in  such  cliques.  I  have  the  high- 
est regard  for  some  of  their  superior  officers,  and  I 
know  that  many  of  them  performed  important 
service  for  the  United  States  during  the  World 
War,  but  it  must  be  perfectly  apparent  to  every- 
one that  an  alien  foreign  language  organism  or 
organisms  of  this  character  unless  supervised  or 
limited  are  antagonistic  to  the  best  interests  of 
any  democracy.  I  shall  be  surprised  if  foreign- 
ers who  believe  in  popular  government  are  not  in 
accord. 

This  brings  us  to  the  rattlesnake  variety  of 
foreign  clubs  which  consistently  and  continuously 
endeavor  to  inoculate  with  their  poison  the 
community  in  which  they  are  permitted  to  exist. 
Organizations  of  this  sort  are  as  plentiful  in  a 
great  city  as  the  serpents  whose  instincts  they 
follow  are  in  a  rattlesnake  section  of  the  West. 
Some  are  federated,  others  are  not.  All  have  their 
volunteer  runners  who  skirmish  the  foreign  colonies 
and  bring  in  recruits. 


Machinery  for  Revolution  151 

Up  to  the  present  time  these  are  the  only  recep- 
tion committees  that  the  United  States  provides 
for  newcomers.  It  could  not  have  found  more 
vigilant  or  active  ones.  If  they  or  their  emissaries 
are  not  at  the  docks,  they  are  at  the  boarding- 
houses  in  which  the  newcomers  are  crammed. 
Always  they  are  to  be  found  in  the  mills  and  shops. 
Various  as  are  their  methods  they  rarely  fail  in 
their  objects.  Therefore  it  matters  little  whether 
they  secure  their  man  by  congratulating  him  upon 
a  safe  arrival  in  a  land  of  liberty,  or  add  fuel  to  the 
flame  of  the  victim's  anger.  In  one  case  the 
arriving  immigrant  goes  to  the  club  to  meet  fellow- 
countrymen  who  wish  to  know  him — in  the  other 
he  is  seeking  for  aid  in  his  endeavor  to  get  even 
with  the  capitalistic  oppressor.  In  both  instances 
he  becomes  the  tool  of  the  intriguer. 

Inasmuch  as  three  quarters  of  the  vast  throngs 
of  immigrants  who  enter  the  United  States  pass 
through  these  clubs,  either  as  members  or  guests, 
and  inasmuch  as  a  large  proportion  of  them  re- 
main affiliated  with  them,  it  is  time  that  citizens 
should  have  a  better  understanding  of  their  work- 
ings. For  convenience  I  shall  divide  them  into: 

I . — Forums  for  discussion  (generally  organized 
and  controlled  by  intellectuals  and  students  who 
have  a  fine  distaste  for  anything  that  exists  that 
is  not  wicked  or  bizarre). 

2. — Socialistic  societies  with  varying  programs 


152  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

for  the  immediate  or  ultimate  betterment  of  the 
race  through  the  exaltation  of  the  community. 

3. — Anarchistic  or  Red  clubs  which  preach 
bloody  revolutions  and  plot  openly  or  secretly  for 
the  disintegration  of  society. 

4. — Communist  or  Soviet  circles. 

5. — Labor  cliques  with  definite  programs,  gener- 
ally out  of  tune  with  the  existing  order  of  things. 

6. — Schools  for  the  teaching  of  radical  doctrines. 

Such  a  differentiation  is  necessarily  arbitrary 
and  of  little  consequence  beyond  such  service  as  it 
may  render  by  emphasizing  the  objects  that  these 
organizations  have  in  mind.  Certain  of  them 
combine  as  far  as  possible  all  the  characteristics 
adverted  to.  Many  rejoice  in  names  that  are 
beyond  reproach  while  themselves  distinctly  revo- 
lutionary, and  practically  all  are  debating  centers. 

The  reader's  attention  has  already  been  given 
to  the  trials  of  the  immigrant  on  landing.  Imagine 
him  now  arriving  at  a  meeting  of  one  of  these 
clubs  to  which  it  has  been  seen  that  he  will 
naturally  gravitate.  There  is  warmth,  society, 
fellowship,  and  what  is  perhaps  more  grateful 
than  either — sympathy!  The  first  impressions 
are  therefore  good  and  abide.  It  is  no  more  than 
natural  that  the  newcomer  should  return  again 
and  again,  nor  that  he  should  later  become  a  mem- 
ber of  the  organization.  This  means  that  he  re- 
flects the  sentiment  of  those  with  whom  he 


Machinery  for  Revolution  153 

mingles.  Their  views  of  America — and  it  must 
be  remembered  that  most  of  them  have  passed 
through  a  like  experience  to  his  own — become  his 
view  of  America.  If  he  is  young  and  has  had 
some  schooling  abroad,  he  quickly  affiliates  him- 
self with  inside  coteries  who  revel  in  academic 
criticism  of  everything  that  exists,  and  uses 
schools,  college  lectures,  and  public  libraries  for 
the  sole  and  only  purpose  of  perfecting  himself  in 
ultra  radicalism.  If  he  is  illiterate  and  unam- 
bitious, he  drifts  into  labor  circles,  dimly  compre- 
hends the  arguments  of  the  labor  agitator  who  gets 
his  living  by  stirring  up  trouble,  and  grows  to 
vividly  picture  the  capitalist  as  an  inexorable 
tyrant. 

Thus  by  one  road  or  another  do  alien  men,  and 
women  too,  come  to  fixed  conclusions  that  Ameri- 
cans who  are  not  part  and  parcel  of  the  distinctive 
critical  type,  are  their  natural  foes.  It  is  in- 
stinctive for  them  after  they  are  convinced  that 
they  are  being  exploited,  to  herd  together  for 
defense.  All  this  makes  for  solidarity,  and  few 
immigrants  avoid  being  caught  in  this  whirling 
current  of  class  hatred.  A  few  escape,  some  from 
the  very  fact  that  the  recklessness  of  their  adopted 
philosophy  or  belief  leads  them  into  dangerous 
paths;  these  accept  life  as  a  negation  and  of  no 
value  except  as  it  provides  the  pleasurable  excite- 
ment of  a  moment,  which  brings  a  tragic  finale: 
some,  because  they  inherit  the  shrewdness  and 


154  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

thrift  that  lead  to  fortune  in  spite  of  every  dis- 
couragement accumulate  a  little  money — become 
suspicious  of  socialistic  theory  that  would  rob 
them  of  their  hard-earned  wage,  and  develop  a 
disposition  to  question  arbitrary  statement.  This 
attitude  of  mind  and  realization  of  the  precious- 
ness  of  time  make  the  latter  unpopular  with  or- 
ganizers of  trouble  and  while  it  leads  to  temporary 
isolation,  becomes  their  ultimate  salvation.  With 
little  to  lose  such  men  and  women  wake  to  the  op- 
portunity for  improvement  and  according  to  their 
abilities  build  swiftly  and  certainly.  Later  they 
will  be  found  among  the  esteemed  citizens  of  city 
or  village,  many  of  them  measuring  well  up  with 
those  who  are  most  regarded  by  their  fellows,  and 
all  of  them  cherishing  a  deeper  love  for  the  United 
States  and  American  institutions  than  do  many 
of  those  born  on  the  soil.  No  one  shall  go  be- 
yond me  in  appreciation  of  immigrants  of  this 
character!  If  the  republic  is  saved  for  coming 
generations,  it  will  be  more  from  their  endeavor 
than  from  any  contribution  of  those  of  us  who 
have  approved. American  traditions  but  beyond  a 
sustained  lust  for  money  and  applause  and  a  cer- 
tain ability  to  gratify  one's  selfish  intuitions,  are 
decadent. 

Every  reader  is  acquainted  with  the  type  above 
adverted  to.  It  is  that  which  the  addle-headed 
but  kindly  spirited  sociologist  uses  most  harm- 
fully as  an  illustration  of  the  wonderful  effect 


Machinery  for  Revolution  155 

America  has  upon  all  immigrants.  If  the  Nation 
is  to  find  itself  again,  it  must  stop  this  erroneous 
teaching.  Such  statements  besides  being  uncom- 
plimentary to  the  persons  used  as  examples  is 
dangerously  and  dreadfully  false.  While  I  am  not 
prepared  to  go  as  far  as  others  in  making  contra- 
dictory affirmations,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say — 
after  having  enjoyed  some  opportunity  for  ob- 
servation— that  the  major  part  of  the  immigrants 
coming  into  the  United  States  are  absolutely 
unlike  those  who  deserve  our  praise  for  their 
achievements ;  to  the  contrary  and  largely  because 
of  preventable  mishandling  shortly  after  their 
arrival,  these  masses  are  automatically  turned  over 
to  anarchists  and  various  radicals  who  quickly 
align  them  with  the  growing  revolutionary  group. 
America  cannot  wake  up  to  this  fact  too  quickly. 
Sincerely  do  I  wish  that  a  more  powerful  pen 
were  at  hand  to  describe  the  foreign  press  which  is 
encouraged  by  certain  industrial  chiefs  for  what 
can  only  be  sinister  reasons.  Outside  of  a  few 
racial  organs  which  are  supported  by  cliques  for 
devious  purposes,  there  are  not  many  which  are 
capable  of  paying  their  way  by  ordinary  circulation 
and  advertisement.  All  others — and  they  must 
number  between  fifteen  hundred  and  two  thousand 
—appear  to  rely  upon  methods  which  would  not  be 
tolerated  in  the  English-speaking  press.  Whether 
this  is  because  of  the  illiteracy  and  poverty  of  the 
people  for  whom  they  are  printed,  or  because  the 


156  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

proprietors  prefer  to  exact  toll  from  those  who  may 
be  injured  by  their  hostility,  is  always  a  question, 
although  it  is  claimed  by  the  editors  of  clean 
sheets,  to  the  shame  of  American  business  inter- 
ests if  true,  that  such  support  as  is  given  the 
foreign  press  by  employers  of  labor  goes  to  those 
which  are  irreconcilably  radical.  As  far  as  I  am 
informed  papers  published  in  foreign  languages 
may  be  divided  into  five  classes — news  sheets  that 
may  be  entirely  respectable  (there  is  a  use  for  a 
limited  number  of  them) — clerical  periodicals 
which  are  conservative  and  safe — news  sheets  that 
are  radical  (these  are  abundant) — scurrilous 
periodicals  with  an  anti-clerical  tone — and  various 
publications  which  reflect  radical  aspirations. 

Others  have  given  particular  description  of 
these  different  publications.  For  the  purpose  of 
this  book  it  will  be  sufficient  for  me  to  record  the 
belief  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  our  foreign- 
language  papers  are  ready  at  any  time  to  act 
as  the  media  for  distributing  revolutionary  propa- 
ganda. 


PART  III 

PHENOMENA    ACCOMPANYING    AND    EXPLAINING 
THE  DECADENCE  OF  DEMOCRACY  IN  AMERICA 


157 


CHAPTER  I 

OCCASION  FOR   INTROSPECTION 

IN  due  course  I  have  given  reasons  for  an  inquiry 
into  the  status  of  American  democracy,  and 
finding  that  the  alien  invasion  constitutes  the  chief 
reason  for  introspection,  have  presented  facts  and 
figures  to  illustrate  the  dominant  position  which 
the  foreigner  is  assuming  in  the  United  States. 

To  my  mind  these  indicate  an  intolerable  situa- 
tion, and  shout  a  warning  which  must  be  heeded  if 
this  free  government  is  to  live. 

That  this  warning  has  been  heard  by  some  is 
evidenced  in  the  frequent  appeal  of  platform  and 
press  for  corrective  action. 

Meantime  the  Republic  represents  a  vast  aggre- 
gation of  people,  the  inertia  of  whose  movements 
in  a  wrong  direction  cannot  readily  be  overcome. 
What  is  to  be  done  in  the  premises  by  those  who 
have  caught  the  startling  message? 

I  can  think  of  nothing  else  than  for  each  to  fol- 
low the  same  course  of  action  that  he  would  pursue 
if  a  business  or  some  domestic  matter  in  which  he 
was  concerned  with  others  was  threatened  by  an 
obvious  danger.  In  such  a  case  he  would — 

159 


160  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

First— Echo  the  alarm  in  such  a  way  as  to  com- 
pel the  attention  of  his  compatriots ;  and 

Second — Inform  himself  and  them  in  regard  to 
the  fitness  of  the  joint  business  or  like  concern  to 
withstand  attack.  This  to  be  effective  would 
have  to  be  done  while  there  was  yet  time  to 
eliminate  elements  of  weakness. 

Taking  my  own  medicine  then  and  doing  the 
thing  which  to  me  appears  logical  if  not  a  duty,  I 
have  in  preceding  chapters  set  out  certain  dis- 
tressing truths  in  regard  to  which  I  am  informed 
in  the  hope  that  they  may  reach  some  reader 
equally  interested  in  democracy  who  has  not 
shared  my  opportunity  for  observation. 

I  wish  now  to  dwell  upon  certain  signs  of  de- 
cadence in  the  political  life  of  the  Nation  which 
may  well  have  been  disregarded  by  those  of  my 
fellow-citizens  who  have  not  thus  far  noted  the 
gathering  storm  clouds  but  which  ought  not  to  be 
longer  ignored  because  they  terribly  emphasize  the 
growing  peril. 

In  doing  this  I  shall  only  touch  upon  a  few  out  of 
several  tendencies  and  errancies  which  in  them- 
selves indicate  decadence,  and  shall  confine  my- 
self for  the  most  part  to  such  weaknesses  as  are 
brought  into  the  high  light  by  the  foreign  incursion. 
Those  which  have  been  selected  as  worthy  of  com- 
ment have  largely  to  do  with  a  false  system  of 
public  education  which  has  encouraged  hyper- 
criticism  and  socialism ;  the  loss  of  political  sanity, 


Occasion  for  Introspection  161 

explaining  subservience  to  the  intellectual  expert 
and  the  absurd  Americanization  and  Naturaliza- 
tion campaigns ;  and  the  confused  social  conditions 
which  sharpen  the  edge  of  that  dreadful  enemy  of 
democracy,  propaganda. 

In  giving  the  matter  thus  presented  such  atten- 
tion as  it  may  warrant,  I  trust  that  the  reader  will 
constantly  bear  in  mind  the  tremendous  issues 
forced  upon  our  citizenry  by  the  incursion  of  the 
foreign  armies  that  are  now  in  occupancy  of  the 
land. 

If  it  were  not  for  this  factor  we  could  as  a  people 
take  a  chance  at  hazardous  experiments  and  neg- 
lect the  consideration  of  obvious  faults  until  a 
more  convenient  season.  Such  a  course  might 
ultimately  lead  to  ruin,  but  the  Almighty  has 
favored  the  Nation  in  spite  of  its  predilection  for 
strange  gods  and  it  is  possible  that  he  will  con- 
tinue so  to  do. 

Unfortunately,  however,  we  cannot  eliminate  the 
alien  mind  and  will  which  threaten  to  crowd  our 
concepts  out  of  the  national  nest  and  substitute 
its  own  offspring.  Therefore,  we  must  face  the 
situation  and  take  corrective  action  if  we  are  to 
avoid  disaster.  Like  some  abused  bunting  that  is 
being  dispossessed  of  its  home  by  a  cowbird,  we 
can  twitter  in  a  high  and  thin  key  and  make  fierce 
little  rushes  at  the  intruder,  but  such  flurries  are 
of  no  import.  The  alien  mind  and  will  are  affect- 
ing our  political  and  economic  standards,  and  they 


1 62  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

will  outlive  this  generation.  They  are  not  yet  in 
full  possession  but  they  will  soon  be  unless  we  be- 
stir ourselves. 

It  is  well  enough  for  the  shipmaster  to  ignore 
the  fact  that  his  vessel  is  unseaworthy  while  winds 
are  propitious,  but  he  is  a  fool  and  will  meet  the 
fate  of  a  fool  if  he  continues  to  do  so  when  a 
tempest  is  gathering. 


CHAPTER  II 

SOCIALISM 

IN  recapitulating  the  causes  which  are  under- 
mining democracy  in  the  United  States  I  have 
touched  from  time  to  time  upon  socialism. 

I  now  propose  to  consider  it  more  particularly, 
not  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  its  platform  or  its 
frank  propaganda,  but  with  the  object  of  calling 
attention  to  the  manner  in  which  it  is  insinuating 
itself  into  our  political  system. 

Fifty  years  ago  socialism  was  a  word  as  hate- 
ful in  the  United  States  as  communism  is  to-day. 
I  readily  recall  my  first  socialist.  He  was  an 
Englishman  and  subscribed  for  a  tabooed  sheet 
that  advocated  a  redistribution  of  wealth. 

As  if  in  presage  of  the  times  now  with  us  he 
found  employment  in  the  schools,  being  retained 
not  to  teach  his  philosophy  but  penmanship.  Now 
and  then  he  addressed  small  audiences  in  nearby 
towns,  or  wrote  an  article  for  some  journal  which 
none  but  imported  agitators  read. 

He  was  a  harmless  little  gentleman — bland  and 
courteous — ready  enough  to  take  advantage  of 

163 


1 64  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

every  opportunity  which  an  individualist  govern- 
ment gave  him  to  advance  himself,  and  not  at  all 
like  the  censorious  spirits  who  now  preach  social- 
ism from  our  college  chairs.  Notwithstanding  his 
excellent  manners  and  the  obvious  fact  that  his 
philosophy  had  little  to  do  with  his  daily  life,  he 
was  persona  non  grata  in  the  community. 

Much  water  has  gone  over  the  mill  since  those 
days,  and  while  I  have  no  doubt  that  this  early 
socialist,  if  he  were  now  living,  would  claim  that 
"evolution  had  registered  something  akin  to  his 
teaching,"  I  cannot  believe  that  his  excellent 
mind  would  endorse  much  of  the  socialistic  legisla- 
tion which  is  current. 

Reference  to  the  radical  of  long  ago  emphasizes 
the  difference  between  the  Nation's  point  of  view 
as  it  was  in  1880  and  as  it  is  to-day.  Then  we 
respected  scholarship  and  were  influenced  by  it 
when  it  modified  the  opinion  of  men  of  judgment. 
Theories  and  theorists  like  my  acquaintance,  pre- 
senting impracticable  schemes,  were  unpopular! 
Now  we  revere  anybody  and  everybody  who  se- 
cures a  university  degree,  and  listen  with  con- 
sideration to  pleasing  propositions  which  were 
rejected  by  our  fathers  because  they  were 
incompatible  with  our  political  system. 

The  point  of  view  has  changed  everything  and 
made  it  possible  for  men  like  my  little  socialist  to 
emerge  from  their  obscurity  and  become  the  lions  of 
the  hour.  Then  we  knew  certain  things  were 


Socialism  165 

good  but  unattainable.  No  one  will  question  for 
instance  that  there  was  a  deeper  reverence  in  the 
United  States  for  the  sayings  of  Jesus  Christ  than 
there  is  at  present.  This  was  because  of  a  recog- 
nition of  His  Divinity,  and  a  regard  for  revelation 
which  is  not  so  general  to-day.  Jesus  Christ  said 
— "Be  ye  perfect."  No  one  questioned  the  desir- 
ability of  perfection,  and  those  who  failed  to  grasp 
the  method  of  the  Christ's  teaching  were  very  much 
inclined  to  give  the  words  more  emphasis  than  they 
could  have  been  intended  to  convey,  yet  no  one  of 
sound  mind  and  respectable  standing  dreamed  that 
the  individual  human  spirit  could  do  more  than 
approximate  perfection. 

To-day,  whether  it  be  along  the  lines  of  human- 
ism, internationalism,  or  pacificism,  we  listen  to 
schemes  that  are  patently  impracticable,  without 
impatience  if  not  with  approval. 

Persons  who  are  now  but  dear  memories  would 
have  said,  "What  in  the  name  of  common  sense!" 
We  say,  "It  is  good  and  therefore  commendable," 

and  we  recognize  Professor who  was  suspected 

in  our  college  days  of  taking  to  teaching  because 
of  unfitness  for  affairs,  as  an  oracle. 

How  has  this  come  about?  Not  otherwise,  I 
think,  than  many  of  the  serious  mischiefs  of  the 
time !  Through  the  finiteness  of  the  finite  and  the 
inability  of  society  or  any  part  of  it  to  hold  the 
ground  which  it  has  secured  after  sharp  fighting. 

Whatever  the  final  decision  is  in  regard  to  in- 


166  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

dividualism — history  must  bear  evidence  that 
during  its  first  century  the  American  Republic 
secured  unsurpassed  achievements  for  itself  and 
the  race  through  individualism.  None  of  these 
achievements  were  more  signal  than  those  which, 
following  the  desire  of  enfranchised  and  successful 
spirits  to  share  the  fruit  of  their  prosperity  with 
the  unfortunate,  led  to  the  establishment  of  great 
philanthropies. 

Here  democracy  was  at  its  best — not  only  giving 
its  worthwhile  units  an  opportunity  to  expand, 
but  automatically  providing  for  its  poor  and 
wretched  in  a  way  never  equaled  by  a  communistic 
or  autocratic  state. 

So  far  all  was  good  and  greater  good  lay  before; 
but  with  the  key  to  progress  in  its  hand  philan- 
thropy lost  its  sense  of  proportion  just  as  com- 
mercialism and  industrialism  have  lost  their 
balance. 

Moderation  and  temperance,  two  essential 
qualities  in  democracy,  were  forgotten ;  and  failing 
to  see  that  it  was  necessary  to  safeguard  the  con- 
quests already  made,  altruism,  conscious  of  its 
power  under  freedom  attempted  to  actually  secure 
the  perfect. 

The  job  has  been  too  great  for  it,  as  it  will  con- 
tinue to  be!  Meantime  the  effect  of  disdaining 
human  limitation,  the  peril  of  undertaking  projects 
beyond  mortal  capacity  to  handle,  and  the  disposi- 
tion to  throw  facts  and  reason  into  the  discard  has 


Socialism  167 

brought  about  an  unworldly  method  of  thinking 
which  is  everywhere  in  evidence. 

This  is  how  I  explain  the  very  great  change 
which  has  taken  place  between  the  period  when  a 
socialist  was  looked  upon  with  suspicion  in  every 
town  and  city  of  the  Republic,  and  our  own  era 
which  is  socialistic  in  expression  if  not  in  principle. 

It  is  all  very  natural.  The  person  who  becomes 
acquainted  with  the  depth  of  human  misery  as  it 
presents  itself  to  the  charitably  disposed— 

i. — Recognizes  the  hopelessness  of  corrective 
endeavor  without  cooperation. 

2. — Seeks  through  association  with  others,  like- 
minded,  to  accomplish  reforms  which  she  or  he 
could  not  do  unaided. 

3. — After  exhausting  the  resources  of  such  as- 
sociated endeavor  comes  to  the  correct  conclusion 
that  the  State  can  accomplish  results  which  private 
enterprise  finds  impossible. 

This  leads  him  or  her  to  advocate  legislation  for 
the  amelioration  of  the  poor  and  the  ne'er-do-well 
as  it  is  properly  enacted  for  the  dependent. 

This  is  the  first  step.  Finding  it  to  work  ad- 
mirably, the  same  person  goes  further  and  supports 
legislation  which  not  only  aids  but  controls  and 
shapes  the  movements  and  habits  of  individuals 
in  a  way  that  is  incompatible  with  the  principles 
of  democracy. 


168  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

Of  course  the  cardinal  error  lies  in  forgetting 
that  perfect  freedom  and  any  unjustified  restraint 
of  the  liberty  of  the  individual  are  at  absolute 
variance.  Society  can  espouse  one  principle  or  the 
other,  but  it  cannot  espouse  both  any  more  than 
Almighty  God  can  give  man  a  free  will  and  then 
shape  his  actions. 

Philosophy  long  since  discovered  the  basic 
truths  upon  which  such  statements  as  I  am  mak- 
ing rest,  and  priests  and  statesmen  in  framing 
theologies  and  social  compacts  have  taken  scrupu- 
lous care  to  avoid  contradiction. 

Unfortunately,  the  average  kind-hearted  person 
is  neither  wise  in  matters  of  religious  doctrine  or 
political  craft  and  therefore  blunders  into  positions 
which  are  absolutely  untenable.  This  appears 
to  be  what  has  happened  in  this  country,  the 
forceful  people  of  which  are  more  conspicuous  for 
their  altruism  than  for  their  understanding  of 
public  affairs.  These  latter  are  left  to  their  poli- 
ticians and  their  educators,  and  it  is  to  the  eternal 
discredit  of  these  classes  in  the  United  States  that 
we  have  drifted  so  far  from  the  standard  set  by  a 
generation  which  is  still  revered  by  all  humanity. 

Frank  as  I  have  been  in  cashiering  the  business 
man  who  constitutes  the  mightiest  influence  in 
the  Republic,  for  bringing  untold  trouble  upon 
the  people  by  his  obsession  for  affairs  which  have 
to  do  with  his  own  material  prosperity,  I  do  not 
believe  that  he  at  first  understood  the  consequence 


Socialism  169 

of  his  neglect  of  duties  incumbent  upon  him  as  a 
unit  in  a  people's  government. 

Frank  as  I  desire  to  be  in  criticizing  the  failure  of 
sociologists  and  the  worker  for  social  betterment 
in  eschewing  any  consideration  of  political  limita- 
tions when  they  began  to  ask  legislators  to  do  the 
things  which  were  outside  of  their  province,  I  do 
not  believe  that  these  persons  at  first  understood 
the  trend  of  their  bad  reasoning. 

It  would  have  been  possible  to  file  a  brief  in  de- 
fense of  both  the  business  man  and  the  philan- 
thropist if  wrong-doing  is  ever  excusable,  on  the 
ground  of  ignorance  of  law.  I  am  sure,  to  the  con- 
trary, that  nothing  can  be  said  in  apology  for 
those  educators  who  have  committed  to  them  the 
matter  of  instructing  the  merchants  and  philan- 
thropists, nor  very  specially  in  apology  for  the 
politician  whether  the  same  poses  or  has  posed  as 
statesman  or  ward-heeler. 

I  shall  hereafter  have  something  further  to 
remark  in  regard  to  both  the  educator  and  the 
politician  as  experts. 

I  wish  now  to  give  some  consideration  to  the 
politician  who  open-eyed  led  the  people  out  of  the 
straight  and  distinctly  marked  highway  of  de- 
mocracy into  the  maze  of  socialism.  His  responsi- 
bility is  and  has  been  very  great,  not  only  because 
he  is  the  representative  of  the  people,  but  because 
in  the  words  of  a  recent  Congressman  of  national 
reputation,  he  resents  meddling  by  the  unofficial 


170  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

person  in  the  matter  committed  to  his  charge,  and 
thereby  recognizes  his  obligation. 

Seventy-five  years  ago  this  politician  knew  or 
should  have  known  things  that  a  democracy 
could  do  and  things  it  could  not  do.  Marshall 
and  Story  had  already  interpreted  the  Constitu- 
tion. Other  eminent  jurists  who  trained  with 
the  Federalist  party  and  who  were  anxious  to 
provide  the  new  Republic  with  the  necessary 
operative  machinery,  had  marked  the  boundaries 
beyond  which  legislation  could  not  proceed  with- 
out danger.  In  doing  this  they  had  logically  and 
satisfactorily  explained  that  a  democracy  in  en- 
acting laws  which  were  abhorrent  to  its  nature 
must  automatically  go  out  of  being. 

We  may  be  sure  that  the  leading  politicians  of 
1850  were  familiar  with  these  adjudications  and 
that  their  followers  of  every  degree  were  suffi- 
ciently coached — generally  for  party  purposes — 
in  such  portions  of  these  opinions  as  were  funda- 
mental and  of  consequence.  Notwithstanding 
this,  presumably  with  the  object  of  winning  public 
favor,  the  professional  office-holding  craft  both  in 
State  and  Nation  passed  bill  after  bill  which  was 
in  opposition  to  the  political  principles  which  they 
avowed. 

Did  an  industrial  community  desire  something 
from  the  Congress  or  an  Assembly  ?  State  legisla- 
tion was  secured  by  strict  or  free  constructionists 
of  the  Constitution  with  little  regard  for  anything 


Socialism  171 

but  the  well-being  of  the  politicians  of  their  party. 
Did  the  people  identified  with  the  churches  and 
the  hospitals  or  other  associations  with  which 
religious  and  humane  people  naturally  group 
themselves,  desire  legislation  to  further  the  high 
objects  which  they  had  in  mind?  While  the  pro- 
ponents were  frequently  advised  that  their  wishes 
were  prejudicial  to  their  political  interests,  I  do 
not  find  that  their  requests  were  denied,  if  it  was 
found  that  the  petitioners  carried  large  political 
influence. 

Thus  the  drift  toward  a  socialized  state  com- 
menced; loyalty  to  the  men  and  women  who  had 
died  and  suffered,  or  were  dying  and  suffering,  for 
the  Republic,  leading  publicists  to  continue  to  use 
a  patriotic,  democratic  vernacular,  but  their  acts 
showing  how  little  they  appreciated  the  principles 
to  which  they  continued  to  pay  lip-service. 

One  can  hardly  conceive  how  this  element  can 
go  much  further  in  bold  hypocrisy  than  it  has 
advanced  in  these  times  when  the  drift  toward 
socialism  has  become  a  forceful  and  controlling 
current. 

Not  a  day  passes  but  we  read  speeches  of  men 
in  high  station  which  absolutely  square  with  any- 
thing that  we  might  have  expected  from  George 
Washington  or  Abraham  Lincoln.  Yet  every- 
body knows  that  the  same  men  have  fought  fiercely 
for  the  enactment  of  bills  which  are  wholly  out  of 
accord  with  the  principles  that  they  claim  to 


172  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

revere,  or,  as  governors  of  states  or  heads  of  execu- 
tive departments  have  signed  bills  or  pushed 
through  measures  to  which,  if  we  can  believe  their 
words,  they  are  unalterably  opposed.  The  fact 
should  persuade  those  who  are  most  sluggish  in  wit 
that  our  political  dilemma  is  very  serious. 

No  society  can  long  maintain  a  government,  the 
actions  of  which  contravene  its  principles;  no  so- 
ciety can  successfully  revise  its  form  of  government 
as  long  as  its  leaders  claim  (however  sincerely) 
that  they  are  loyal  to  the  form  of  government 
which  they  discredit.  For  this  reason  it  is  difficult 
to  see  how  society  in  the  United  States  can  endure 
as  a  democracy,  and  it  is  no  less  puzzling  to  im- 
agine society  in  the  United  States  becoming  other 
than  an  opera  bouffe  socialistic  government  as 
long  as  its  socialist  leaders  continue  to  prate  of 
democracy. 

Meantime,  we  may  well  suspect  that  we  cannot 
remain  as  we  are  because  it  seems  to  be  against  the 
reason  of  the  thing,  and  because  we  are  informed 
that  no  other  state  has  been  able  to  long  maintain 
such  a  false  position.  Time  will  insist  that  we  fol- 
low up  the  sort  of  legislation  which  drafts  a  large 
percentage  of  the  whole  population  into  the  unlim- 
ited development  of  State  or  Federal  offices ;  taxes 
the  people  for  all  sorts  of  improvements ;  and  dic- 
tates their  activities  after  the  manner  of  a  social- 
ized state ; — or  that  we  re-dedicate  ourselves  to  the 
principles  of  democracy,  and  throw  the  govern- 


Socialism  173 

ment  out  of  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  activities  which 
it  is  at  present  supervising. 

If  that  part  of  the  citizenry  which  is  loyal  to 
Anglo-Saxon  traditions  does  not  do  this,  that 
factor  in  our  body  politic  which  is  semi-European 
will  roughly  force  a  more  embarrassing  readjust- 
ment. As  late  as  1 880  if  the  people  who  then  consti- 
tuted the  United  States  had  thought  fit  to  maintain 
the  integrity  of  the  Republic  rather  than  cater  to 
a  false  humanism  which  demanded  open  doors  in 
order  that  we  might  receive  the  inhabitants  of  the 
earth,  it  is  probable  that  they  could  have  secured 
their  object  without  giving  regard  to  outside  pres- 
sure. They  failed  to  diagnose  the  situation 
correctly;  overlooked  the  fact  that  the  weakening 
of  their  own  institutions  had  hazarded  what  they 
believed  to  be  the  hope  of  the  race ;  and  let  down 
the  bars  in  such  a  way  as  to  invite  catastrophe  for 
themselves  and  mankind. 

It  will  be  for  Americans  of  this  generation  to 
solve  the  problems  which  their  social  and  industrial 
training  has  unfitted  them  to  grapple  with  in  the 
face  of  alien  comment  and  interference.  At 
present  they  are  in  a  predicament,  although  they 
do  not  appear  to  understand  it,  and  are  satisfied 
to  let  well  enough  alone. 

If  they  are  unconscious,  however,  of  the  great 
events  that  are  impending,  this  is  not  true  of  the 
hosts  of  foreigners  whom  they  invited  to  take  up 
their  residence  among  them.  These  people,  in 


174  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

many  instances  keener-witted  if  less  forceful  than 
those  of  Germanic  stock,  are  crammed  with  the 
latest  philosophies,  realize  that  the  conceptions  of 
foreign  thinkers  are  endorsed  by  honored  members 
of  our  college  faculties,  and  are  in  constant  receipt 
of  information  in  regard  to  the  last  experiments 
in  human  government.  They  know  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  our  various  Bills  of  Rights  as 
well  as  we  do  ourselves.  They  appreciate  the 
fact  that  our  political  leaders  are  unfitted  to  the 
tasks  which  the  people  have  asked  them  to  assume, 
and  they  very  naturally  conclude  that  our  accept- 
ance of  socialistic  doctrines  is  an  argument  in 
favor  of  that  sort  of  community  control  which 
Sovietism  is  now  championing.  It  is  hardly  to 
be  supposed  that  they  will  remain  inactive. 


CHAPTER  III 

EDUCATION 

T^KERE  are  many  causes  for  the  developing 
•I  criticism  of  the  hour — the  ultimate  cause  is 
perverse  education. 

This  is  the  fault  of  the  State,  and  promises  to  be 
the  instrument  of  its  ruin. 

Every  nation  needs  to  instruct  the  units  that 
compose  it  in  loyalty  and  service.  It  would  have 
been  the  task  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  to 
do  this,  if  they  had  formed  an  arbitrary  govern- 
ment. It  has  been  and  is  far  more  their  duty  as 
the  guarantor  of  the  frailest  human  government — 
a  democracy.  That  they  have  not  performed  this 
obligation  is  everywhere  apparent  in  the  lack  of 
constructive  political  thinking  and  the  popular- 
ity of  the  sort  of  stricture  and  criticism  which  has 
been  complained  of  and  which  is  the  product  of 
misshapen  minds. 

What  then  is  the  so-called  education  of  which  so 
much  is  heard  ?  Our  streets  are  full  of  educators. 
There  are  educational  boards,  societies,  and  con- 
ferences. Congress  and  the  Legislatures  of  the 


1 76  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

different  States  are  constantly  wrestling  over  edu- 
cational matters  of  greater  or  less  importance,  and 
ceaselessly  are  we  hearing  of  the  debt  we  owe  to 
teachers  and  the  need  of  more  and  more  money 
for  their  support. 

What  is  this  education  of  which  we  hear  so 
much?  I  do  not  think  I  am  far  from  making  a 
reasonable  response  if  I  reply — the  process  'set 
out  in  the  dictionaries  as  synonymous  with  in- 
struction or  teaching  which  furnishes  knowledge 
and  disciplines  the  intellect. 

My  observation  has  led  me  to  conclude  that  be- 
yond agreeing  to  some  such  statement  as  is  thus 
ventured  educators  differ  in  a  substantial  way  as  to 
the  object  of  this  miracle-working  process  when 
undertaken  by  the  public.  Some  believe  that 
education  is  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  in- 
dividual of  the  greatest  possible  value  to  the 
State,  which  is  the  only  real  thing  that  mat- 
ters— and  others  think  of  it  for  the  individual 
alone. 

Both  groups  are  absolutely  unconscious  of  its 
limitations,  and  talk  of  education  as  if  it  would 
turn  a  sow's  ear  into  a  silk  purse. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  new  light  which  is 
dawning,  and  which  is  leading  experimenters  to 
inquire  into  the  limits  of  individual  minds,  may 
bring  about  an  awakening.  Meantime  is  there 
not  abundant  reason  for  the  assertion  that  the 
American  people  have  used  their  schools  to  start 


Education  177 

a  great  many  shallow  intellects  into  feverish  and 
dangerous  operation  ? 

I  do  not  hesitate  to  aver  that  education  as  now 
understood  and  encouraged  by  the  Government, 
was  not  contemplated  by  the  Founders  of  the  Re- 
public. These  far-sighted  men  as  they  felt  their 
way  into  the  great  experiment  in  democracy 
which  possessed  such  beneficent  factors  were  con- 
vinced by  reason  and  the  testimony  of  experience 
that  a  Republic  such  as  they  planned  could  not 
endure  without  more  than  a  modicum  of  virtue 
and  intelligence. 

They  were  establishing  a  people's  government 
that  was  to  insure  liberty  to  the  individual.  The 
public  that  they  knew  and  which  provided  the 
bone  and  sinew  of  the  new  Nation  was  informed, 
virile,  and  homogeneous  in  thought  and  speech. 
It  was  capable  of  grasping  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  the  democracy  and  putting  them  in 
practice.  It  was  resourceful  and  competent  to  pro- 
vide its  own  mental  pabulum  as  well  as  to  furnish 
its  tables  with  food  and  its  families  with  shelter. 

There  was  no  occasion  for  the  architects  of  the 
Nation,  therefore,  to  discuss  general  definitions  of 
education  or  the  ultimate  object  of  a  broad  train- 
ing. They  were  founding  a  State  which  was  to 
meddle  as  little  as  possible  in  the  business  of  the 
units  which  compose  it. 

Official  authority  was  needed  to  conserve  liberty 
and  for  little  else.  They  provided  it ! 


178  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

Education  was  needed  for  the  definite  purpose 
of  instructing  successive  generations  in  the  limita- 
tions of  democracy  so  that  the  difficult  balance 
between  Order  and  Liberty  might  be  kept.  They 
encouraged  it!  using  the  word  in  the  qualified 
sense  which  denotes  the  act  of  training  by  a  pre- 
scribed course  for  a  prescribed  purpose.  Their  ad- 
monitions were  respectfully  accepted  and  promptly 
forgotten. 

If  their  advice  had  been  followed,  our  public 
schools  would  have  been  training  fields  for  citizen- 
ship; the  taxpayer  would  have  received  value  for 
money  paid  into  government  treasuries;  and  a 
thousand  and  one  present  perils  would  have  been 
averted  because  an  informed  body  politic  would 
have  kept  itself  fit. 

As  I  have  elsewhere  pointed  out,  the  generation 
that  followed  the  Revolutionary  fathers  was  too 
busy  in  subduing  the  land  to  give  careful  attention 
to  the  counsel  of  their  elders.  Sections  like  New 
England  made  the  "red  schoolhouse"  more  or  less 
effective,  but  the  westward-facing  pioneer  had 
problems  that  he  believed  to  be  more  intimate 
than  matters  of  a  merely  political  nature.  There- 
fore when  he  and  his  neighbors  sent  for  a  teacher 
the  latter  was  expected  to  instruct  the  young 
in  "readin',  'ritin'  and  'rithmetic,"  and  stop 
there. 

Such  were  the  beginnings  of  the  divergence  from 
marked  paths.  The  average  American  in  1820 


Education  179 

got  a  schooling  in  democracy  through  'participa- 
tion in  frontier  councils,  and  town-meetings.  The 
voter  still  had  a  voice  in  public  assembly,  and 
because  all  men  talked  the  same  language,  had 
abundant  opportunity  to  express  himself  and  learn 
the  opinion  of  others.  The  school  gave  facility, 
helped  the  brighter  children  to  go  ahead,  and  was 
paid  for  from  the  public  purse,  which,  because 
of  intimate  community  relations,  was  practically 
the  same  as  the  private  purse. 

Here  were  the  beginnings  of  trouble ! 

Education  as  an  avenue  of  opportunity  took  the 
place  of  education  to  safeguard  acquired  liberties, 
and  crowded  the  latter  to  the  wall  at  the  very  mo- 
ment when  it  was  most  needed  because  of  the 
Nation's  changing  personnel.  It  is  difficult  for 
us  at  the  present  time  to  understand  the  blindness 
of  men  and  women  we  revere.  We  are  assured  of 
their  virtue  and  patriotism  and  we  cannot  under- 
stand why  they  could  not  see  how  their  standards 
were  fated  without  the  iteration  and  reiteration  of 
the  great  principles  it  had  cost  them  much  to 
enunciate. 

They  must  have  known  that  growing  luxury 
and  remoteness  from  the  period  of  struggle  would 
render  their  descendants  careless  of  liberties  which 
are  only  conserved  by  vigilance!  They  can 
hardly  have  failed  to  realize  that  the  country  was 
rapidly  filling  up  with  multitudes  that  from 
environment  and  heredity  were  incapable  of 


i8o  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

understanding  republican  institutions  without 
guidance. 

These  facts  were  patent  to  them,  and  yet  they 
seemed  to  have  deliberately  ignored  such  elemen- 
tary training  as  was  given  all  neophytes  by  classic 
democracies,  and  to  have  assumed  the  broad  edu- 
cational functions  for  the  State  which  are  the  basis 
of  our  present  rapid  trend  toward  socialism. 

Why  were  the  Founders  of  the  Republic  so 
short-sighted?  The  query  discloses  a  field  for 
inquiry  which  is  open  to  the  curious,  but  is  hardly 
necessary  in  view  of  contemporary  knowledge, 
psychology,  and  history.  It  would  be  just  as 
profitless  to  give  much  time  to  investigating  the 
reasons  why  they  permitted  slavery.  It  would  be 
fairer  to  ask  why  this  generation  is  quiescent  when 
it  is  clearly  apparent  that  the  doom  of  American 
democracy  is  impending. 

It  is  preferable  to  lay  the  mistake,  and  we  can 
do  so  reverentially  enough,  to  the  inability  of 
human  nature  when  acting  in  the  aggregate  at  this 
stage  of  its  evolution  to  become  engrossed  in  ma- 
terial matters  without  losing  sight  of  its  higher 
aspiration.  Cynics  find  in  this  a  fatality  which 
makes  ultimate  progress  unthinkable  and  leads 
successive  civilizations  to  scrap  themselves  upon 
the  ruins  which  have  gone  before. 

I  do  not  think  this  is  necessary.  Free  will  exists 
and  will  ultimately  triumph,  but  as  the  body 
shackles  the  untrained  spirit,  so  the  lust  and 


Education  181 

glamour  of  things  will  continue  to  subvert  the 
objects  of  political  entities,  until  society  gives 
as  much  thought  to  defense  as  to  conquest. 

Setting  aside  speculation  for  a  recitation  of 
facts,  we  know  that  Harriet  Martineau,  traveling 
through  the  States  as  they  existed  in  the  late 
thirties,  was  even  more  amazed  than  is  an  in- 
vestigator of  this  later  day  to  find  that  through 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land  there  was  no 
attempt  to  educate  children  in  the  duties  of  citi- 
zenship. To  her  mind,  and  she  was  a  forward- 
looking  personage,  this  was  as  inexplicable  as 
slavery.  She  antedated  Abraham  Lincoln  by 
many  years  in  pointing  out  that  a  state  cannot  exist 
half  slave  and  half  free,  but  she  was  just  as  logical 
and  just  as  right  when  she  alleged  that  the  de- 
mocracy was  fated  which  neglected  to  train  its 
children  in  the  principles  of  its  political  faith. 
Travel  was  difficult  in  those  days  and  there  were 
few  observers.  None  of  these  have  recorded 
evidence  which  in  any  way  conflicts  with  the 
testimony  of  Miss  Martineau. 

The  twenty  years  that  followed  the  publica- 
tion of  Society  in  America  brought  in  the  great 
German  and  Irish  immigration.  Public  men  of 
the  Administrations  between  Van  Buren  and 
Buchanan  had  winced  under  the  lash  of  English 
economists,  knew  the  sting  of  Charles  Dickens' 
satire,  and  had  wrestled  with  problems  of  assimila- 
tion. Notwithstanding  this  their  school  books 


1 82  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

which  are  still  on  the  shelves  of  their  grand- 
children and  which  were  prepared  under  public 
patronage,  give  no  evidence  of  an  awakening. 
There  are  tedious  compilations  which  treat  on 
geography,  spelling,  mathematics,  natural  philoso- 
phy, and  somewhat  slightingly  on  American  his- 
tory, but  little  or  nothing  that  suggests  a  concern 
in  regard  to  the  political  principles  of  the  child. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  our  grandparents  and 
great-grandparents  expected  that  the  torchlight 
procession,  the  spellbinders'  speech,  a  la  ''Jefferson 
Brick, "  and  the  home  would  do  all  that  was  neces- 
sary in  this  way.  If  so,  they  were  of  course 
assuming  for  themselves  duties  naturally  belong- 
ing to  the  State  and  putting  over  on  the  latter  the 
matter  of  general  education  which  could  better 
have  been  left  to  private  enterprise. 

Men  who  are  still  active  found  the  results  of 
this  erroneous  policy  when  they  in  turn  were  first 
committed  to  the  schoolmaster  and  then  pushed 
out  on  the  public  stage  to  shift  for  themselves. 
For  some  of  them,  not  many,  there  were  still 
homes  which  could  be  relied  upon  to  teach  the  re- 
sponsibilities as  well  as  the  privileges  of  a  re- 
publican form  of  government,  but  the  political 
rally,  the  town-meeting,  and  training-day  were 
unfamiliar  factors.  As  a  consequence  the  great 
majority  were  without  other  political  guidance 
than  was  occasional  and  transitory.  Meantime 
the  public  school  had  become  something  quite 


Education  183 

disassociated  from  any  other  connection  with  the 
democracy  as  such  than  that  which  is  supplied  by 
a  possible  quickening  of  intellectual  life,  and  the 
impartment  of  such  knowledge  as  might  be  se- 
cured from  Colburn's  Mental  Arithmetic,  Wor- 
cester's Speller,  Walton's  Geography,  and  various 
standard  readers. 

There  is,  I  presume,  some  support  for  a  theory 
that  this  kind  of  erudition  was  furnished  for  pur- 
poses of  state,  otherwise  the  taxpayer  would  not 
have  been  compelled  to  pay  the  bill.  Aside  from 
fitting  the  pupil  to  do  simple  figuring,  to  read,  and 
to  write — foundations  for  instruction  in  self- 
government — I  do  not  think  that  any  particular 
good  followed.  Fifty  years  ago  there  was  a  general 
impression  among  school  children — I  think  the 
impression  continues — that  most  of  the  learning 
they  acquired  was  to  fit  them  to  earn  their  living, 
if  not  to  rise  to  a  place  of  importance  in  the  com- 
mercialized world.  No  one  dreamed  that  it  had 
anything  to  do,  as  some  college  presidents  have 
been  known  to  argue,  with  preparation  for  citizen- 
ship. As  a  rule  nine  tenths  of  the  information 
unthankfully  received  was  forgotten  as  soon  as 
examination  was  over. 

The  results  of  national  shiftlessness,  which 
permitted  doctrinaires  to  control  vital  matters 
while  the  everyday  citizen  gave  his  time  to  trade, 
have  proved  mischievous  in  the  highest  degree. 
As  the  political  situation  has  become  more  con- 


1 84  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

fused,  the  individual  voter  has  not  only  become 
less  capable  of  exercising  the  franchise  in  a  sane 
and  prudent  manner,  but  is  frequently  looking  for 
leadership  to  men  who  dislike  democracy. 

This  means  that  the  stage  is  set  for  something 
dramatic.  To  visualize  the  status  we  may  think 
of  American  democracy  as  a  well-intentioned 
Dame  who  commences  a  voyage  in  good  weather, 
in  a  sound  boat,  and  with  an  efficient  boatman. 
Unforeseen  happenings,  alternate  fogs  and  burn- 
ing suns  have  warped  and  played  havoc  with  the 
timbering  of  the  vessel,  and  the  boatman  has  been 
exchanged  for  a  person  of  large  book-knowledge 
who  knows  nothing  of  boats.  At  this  juncture 
when  the  good  lady  is  feeling  a  little  dubious  in 
regard  to  craft  and  pilot,  the  waters  and  the  winds, 
instead  of  continuing  propitious  as  heretofore, 
combine  for  a  demonstration  of  their  destructive 
powers.  The  unhappy  woman  certainly  has  a 
chance.  So  has  American  democracy ! 

We  have  glanced  at  the  past  and  cursorily  re- 
viewed the  period  in  which  the  Nation,  obsessed 
with  other  matters  and  apparently  confident  of  its 
own  integrity,  assumed  the  r61e  of  the  general 
educator  as  it  might  have  arranged  to  clothe,  to 
feed,  or  to  shelter  the  electorate.  It  would  be 
useful  before  the  whole  matter  of  state  instruction 
is  dismissed  to  review  seriatim  some  of  the  state- 
ments and  facts  which  thrust  themselves  upon 
public  notice,  and  which  tend  to  confirm  the  per- 


Education  185 

tinency  of  the  analogy  just  offered.  Inasmuch  as 
space  will  not  permit  this,  I  am  daring  to  make 
three  assertions;  I  shall  be  content  to  have  the 
reader  verify  the  facts : 

i. — Not  one  child  out  of  a  hundred  graduated 
to-day  from  our  public  schools  is  familiar  with  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  or  any  primary 
recitation  of  its  principles — and  not  one  in  a 
thousand  can  give  an  intelligible  statement  as  to 
what  a  democracy  expects  of  its  citizens. 

2. — The  average  teacher  in  our  public  schools  is 
as  ignorant  in  regard  to  the  limitations  of  de- 
mocracy as  is  the  pupil,  knows  little  as  to  the  privi- 
leges secured  to  the  American  people  by  our  great 
State  papers,  and  has  more  knowledge  of  schemes 
for  social  betterment  than  of  primary  political 
principles. 

3. — The  whole  trend  of  public  education  is 
socialistic ;  the  majority  of  the  men  and  women  in 
charge  of  education  vaulting  over  the  fundamental 
political  requirements  with  which  a  free  people 
must  harness  themselves  if  they  are  to  remain 
free,  and  busying  themselves  with  the  working 
out  of  super  structural  details. 

The  first  and  second  averments  can  be  readily 
tested.  Innumerable  educational  reports  provide 
a  basis  for  the  third  conclusion.  I  cite  as  an 
example  a  paragraph  from  the  Annual  Report 
of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  dated  June  8, 


186  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

In  this  country  we  shall  never  be  satisfied  until  we 
have  assured  to  each  child  that  kind  and  degree  of 
education  necessary  for  the  fullest  and  most  perfect 
development  of  its  humanity,  for  the  complete  life  of 
manhood  and  womanhood,  for  the  intelligent  per- 
formance of  the  duties  of  citizenship,  and  for  making 
an  honest  living  by  intelligent  and  skilled  labor  of 
some  kind. 

And  again: 

At  last  the  world  is  beginning  to  understand  that 
all  children  of  whatever  birth  and  condition,  have 
certain  rights  which  become  obligations  for  society 
and  state,  and  that  chief  among  these  is  the  right  of 
education.  The  world  is  also  becoming  conscious  of 
the  fact  that  neither  society  nor  state  can  ever  attain 
to  its  best  until  every  individual  unit  of  it  has  attained 
unto  its  best. 

The  first  duty  of  a  democratic  state  certainly  is  to 
provide  equal  and  full  opportunity  for  education  for 
all  its  children. 

While  the  paragraph  touching  training  in  citizen- 
ship can  hardly  be  improved  for  clear  and  concise 
statement  of  an  unquestioned  obligation,  there  is 
an  expressed  sympathy  for  State  direction  of 
human  betterment  which  reflects  the  humanistic 
spirit  of  social  workers.  That  this  does  credit  to 
the  qualities  of  heart  possessed  by  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Education  and  those  whose  opinion  he 
voices,  will  be  readily  granted.  Indeed,  one  would 
go  further  and  agree  that  the  general  policies  thus 


Education  187 

advocated  might  be  most  serviceable  in  safe- 
guarding the  Republic,  if  there  were  returns  to 
show  that  the  sort  of  instruction  so  earnestly 
recommended,  and  which  is  the  same  old  program 
with  which  the  Nation  is  familiar,  thrown  into  a 
different  guise,  had  produced  citizens. 

Hoodlumism  contradicts  this,  and  so  does  the 
bill  introduced  to  the  Sixty-sixth  Congress  by 
Senator  Smith  of  Georgia.  This  fairly  recites 
that  there  is  need  for  Congress  to  annually  appro- 
priate $>  1 00,000,000  to  encourage  the  states  in  the 
promotion  and  support  of  education,  and  would 
hardly  be  offered  for  constitutional  reasons  (be- 
cause it  is  obnoxious  in  itself),  if  it  were  not  plain 
that  the  States  had  broken  down  in  the  matter  of 
educating  their  own  population. 

Whether  the  bill  passes  or  not,  the  discussions 
attending  its  presentation  are  bound  to  be  a  land- 
mark in  the  history  of  American  education.  As 
such  they  register  the  fact  that  in  the  year  1922 
education  as  conceived  and  practiced  in  the  United 
States  does  not  encourage  democracy;  that  edu- 
cators have  refused  to  recognize  the  objects  that  a 
democracy  seeks  in  providing  public  education; 
that  a  nation  which  does  not  train  its  own  children 
to  abide  by  the  principles  on  which  it  is  founded 
is  incompetent  to  assume  the  almost  hopeless  task 
of  immigrant  education;  and  that  there  has  been 
an  awful  waste  of  money  in  maintaining  the 
elaborate  public  school  system  of  the  States. 


1 88  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

In  as  much  as  this  latter  fact  directly  affects  the 
voter's  pocketbook,  and  offers  an  avenue  by  which 
his  attention  may  be  turned  toward  the  present 
deplorable  status,  I  purpose  to  comment  briefly 
upon  the  same. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  majority  of  the  children 
who  receive  such  training  as  our  public  school 
system  provides  never  get  beyond  the  grammar 
school  and  that  numbers  of  these  are  unfitted  to  go 
further  than  the  lower  grades  of  the  latter. 

I  presume  it  will  be  acknowledged  that  such 
pupils  either  lack  the  vital  qualities  which  would 
make  much  of  the  information  that  is  pounded 
into  them  of  value,  or  are  absolutely  without 
aptitude  for  the  acquirement  of  knowledge. 

Why  in  the  world  then  do  we  insist  on  plaguing 
them  with  instruction  in  matters  that  do  not  in- 
terest them,  or  strive  to  put  a  nice  edge  on  metal 
that  will  not  sharpen  to  advantage  ?  Is  it  not  like 
turning  out  lead  swords? 

It  is  not  improbable  that  the  matter  of  physical 
vitality  as  an  essential  quality  of  the  primary 
scholar,  has  been  given  due  notice  by  educators. 
If  so,  they  have  been  seriously  reticent !  My  own 
attention  was  called  to  it  by  the  returns  of  an 
Academy  Class  secretary  regarding  the  men  who 
graduated  with  him  twenty-five  years  ago.  I 
have  not  the  figures  before  me  and  therefore 
cannot  give  the  facts  accurately,  but  I  am  sure 
that  if  available  these  would  not  widely  differ 


Education  189 

from  the  data  presented.  Of  the  three  hundred 
boys  entering  this  class,  or  at  times  members  of  it, 
less  than  fifty  graduated  or  completed  what  might 
be  called  a  High  School  course.  A  much  smaller 
number  went  to  college.  The  statistics,  which 
were  gathered  by  communicating  with  the  parents 
or  relatives  of  the  different  individual  members, 
conclusively  showed  that  mortality  had  been  the 
greatest  among  the  boys  who  failed  to  finish  the 
school  course,  and  that  it  had  been  in  inverse 
ratio  to  the  period  of  school  attendance.  That  is 
to  say,  not  only  had  the  majority  of  pupils  in  this 
class  fallen  out  during  the  first  years  of  school 
but  the  deaths  among  those  who  had  been  early 
removed  for  various  reasons — presumably  lack  of 
vital  punch  and  interest — had  far  outnumbered 
the  deaths  among  those  who  had  managed  to 
square  to  a  certain  degree  with  requirements.  I 
do  not  recall  that  any  of  the  boys  who  had  discon- 
tinued work  at  the  Academy  during  the  early 
years  of  the  class  organization  were  still  living  at 
the  time  when  the  figures  were  collated.  This 
would  seem  to  indicate  for  the  particular  case  thus 
given  that  not  more  than  ten  per  cent  of  a  group 
taken  at  random  from  New  England  communities 
of  the  better  sort — all  of  the  boys  being  of  native 
rather  than  foreign  stock — were  physically  fit  to 
qualify  for  a  higher  education — and  that  nine 
tenths  of  the  group,  whatever  exceptions  there  may 
have  been  in  the  matter  of  mental  equipment, 


TOO  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

were  better  fitted  for  vocations  which  required 
little  reading  and  study  than  for  those  which  de- 
manded a  certain  amount  of  erudition.  It  should 
not  be  overlooked  that  the  children  in  the  Academy 
class  referred  to  were  mentally  and  physically  well 
above  the  mass  of  children  that  are  brought  into 
the  public  schools  through  the  drag  net  of  the  law. 

While  the  instance  may  not  be  worth  much 
from  a  scientific  point  of  view,  it  is  one  of  a  class  of 
incidents  which,  when  taken  in  connection  with 
the  observation  of  the  average  citizen,  should  have 
long  since  led  the  latter  to  query  whether  a  large 
number  of  school  children  who  are  commandeered 
into  public  courses  of  instruction  are  not  both 
mentally  defective  and  physically  unfit ! 

The  founders  of  the  Republic  and  their  forebears 
recognized  the  value  of  education  for  those  who 
could  use  it  advantageously,  but  they  did  not 
attempt  to  provide  more  of  this  education,  even 
for  those  whose  faculties  fitted  them  to  absorb  it, 
than  was  commensurate  with  the  safety  of  the 
Republic.  By  so  doing  they  wisely  restricted  the 
public  duty  of  the  State  to  things  which  it  could 
perform. 

Those  who  follow  in  their  footsteps  are  far  re- 
moved from  the  sociological  cult  which  believes 
that  the  United  States  should  as  a  public  matter 
provide  every  aspirant  for  an  education  with  the 
training  which  he  desires,  and  which  because  it 
believes  that  education  is  a  good  thing  long  since 


Education  191 

determined  that  the  electorate  as  such  should 
provide  every  one  with  a  modicum  of  learning 
whether  they  have  the  capacity  to  use  it  or  not. 

We  can  hardly  hope  to  bulwark  the  bulging  walls 
of  the  democracy  unless  the  people  awake  to  the 
fact  that  these  teachers  are  not  only  unsafe  guard- 
ians for  their  children,  but  that  they  are  using  a 
large  part  of  the  national  wealth  to  secure  other 
returns  than  they  were  commissioned  to  obtain, 
or  to  no  purpose  at  all.  Up  to  the  present  time 
they  have  been  contented  to  accept  the  ultimatum 
of  such  persons  although  they  have  not  been  slow 
to  sharply  criticize  them  on  occasion.  Of  this, 
hereafter ! 


CHAPTER  IV 

THRALDOM 

THE  manner  in  which  the  people  of  the  United 
States  have  permitted  themselves  to  be 
cajoled  in  matters  of  education  naturally  leads  to 
some  discussion  of  the  faculty  they  evince  for 
thraldom.  Hardly  had  they  adopted  "Hail, 
Columbia"  as  a  national  hymn  and  roared  out  in 
full-throated  chorus — "let  independence  be  our 
boast,  ever  mindful  what  it  cost" — than  they  ap- 
pear to  have  courted  a  state  of  intellectual  villen- 
age.  Politically  this  first  took  the  form  of  per- 
mitting an  aggressive  minority  of  forceful  and  able 
men  in  the  South  to  run  the  Republic,  and  was 
later  transformed  into  subjection  to  competent 
and  far-seeing  bosses  in  the  North.  A  New  Eng- 
land poet  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  the  debasement  of 
the  populous  and  industrial  North  prior  to  the 
fifties  in  the  Bigelow  Papers: 

"The  north  haint  no  kind  o'bisness  with  nothin 
An'  you've  no  idee  how  much  bother  it  saves : 
We  aint  none  riled  by  their  frettin  an  frothin 
We're  used  to  layin  the  string  on  our  slaves." 
Sez  John  C.  Calhoun,  Sez  he; — 

192 


Thraldom  193 

"Freedom's  Keystone  is  Slavery,  thet  ther's  no  doubt  on, 
Its  suthin  thet's — wha'd  ye  call  it? — divine, — 
An  the  slaves  thet  we  ollus  make  the  most  out  on 
Air  them  north  o'  Mason  an  Dixon's  line" 
Sez  John  C.  Calhoun,  Sez  he; — 

The  majority  has  changed  its  masters  in  these 
times,  but  not  its  condition  of  political  servitude. 
Educationally,  as  we  have  seen,  it  assumes  the 
shape  of  vassalage  to  the  pedagogues;  and  eco- 
nomically, deference  to  the  labor  element  on  the 
one  side  and  the  banking  group  on  the  other,  both 
of  which  it  joyfully  assists  to  forge  its  chains. 

Others  will  have  a  different  explanation  to  give 
for  this  extraordinary  phenomenon.  I  think  there 
is  but  one,  and  that  has  elsewhere  in  these  pages 
been  broadly  hinted  at.  This  is  none  other  than 
the  sort  of  crazed  absorption  in  commercialism 
which  makes  it  appear  unprofitable  to  those  who 
court  riches  to  allow  themselves  to  be  diverted  by 
any  other  interest,  and  which  therefore  delegates 
to  experts  or  enthusiasts  responsibilities  which 
seem  of  less  moment. 

I  acknowledge  that  this  is  natural  enough,  and  I 
am  far  from  assuming  an  attitude  of  censorious 
criticism.  Men  appear  to  be  unequal  to  doing 
more  than  one  thing  at  a  time,  and  both  history 
and  study  of  human  nature  prove  conclusively 
that  except  under  stress  the  race  is  impatient  to 
secure  material  things. 
13 


194  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

Following  an  eternal  cycle  individuals  have 
thus  far  sought  to  acquire  possessions,  place  or 
power  for  themselves  until  thwarted  by  the  ambi- 
tion of  others  when  they  have  organized,  and 
forfeited  something  in  the  interest  of  security. 

The  revolt  against  interference  from  without 
explains  every  change  in  government  that  has 
stabilized  freedom.  Relapse  again  into  selfish 
endeavor,  coupled  with  forgetfulness  of  human 
limitation  and  failure  to  maintain  the  defenses 
which  ensure  liberty,  explain  the  failure  of  free 
governments  to  maintain  themselves  for  any 
length  of  time. 

It  would  be  surprising  and  mightily  encourag- 
ing if  the  American  Commonwealth  had  evinced 
an  ability  to  square  with  the  requirements  that 
underly  its  endeavors. 

It  is  absurd  for  us  on  the  other  hand  not  to 
recognize  the  dismal  manner  in  which  we  have 
failed  and  are  failing  to  maintain  the  underpinning 
upon  which  our  whole  invaluable  system  rests,  and 
it  is  self-evident  that  whatever  hope  we  have  lies 
in  a  frank  recognition  of  conditions  which  are  re- 
vealed by  a  cursory  diagnosis.  This  need  not 
necessarily  include  the  sort  of  harsh  criticism  which 
repels  instead  of  persuades. 

It  is  foolish  for  a  people  that  desires  to  concen- 
trate upon  the  material  things  that  reward  shrewd 
traders  and  bargainers,  to  leave  interests  that  are 
essential  to  the  boss,  the  politician,  or  the  juggler 


Thraldom  195 

in  finance  because  it  means  dependence,  and 
amounts  to  a  virtual  killing  of  the  goose  that  lays 
the  golden  egg.  It  is  only  fair  to  remember,  how- 
ever, that  Americans  in  doing  this  have  been  far 
from  understanding  that  they  w^re  putting  them- 
selves in  bondage. 

To  their  minds  they  were  retaining  experts, 
hiring  minions,  and  employing  agents  to  do  the 
sort  of  subordinate  work  for  them  which  is  dele- 
gated to  a  sub-boss  in  a  factory.  I  do  not  for  a 
moment  believe  that  they  thought  they  were  en- 
slaving themselves,  and  enslavement  would  not 
necessarily  have  followed  had  they  been  careful 
to  pass  upon  the  matter  committed  to  those 
appointed  to  represent  their  interests. 

This  latter  they  have  never  done  and  are  not 
doing,  and  so  in  somewhat  the  same  manner,  al- 
though with  honorable  motives,  in  which  Uriah 
Keep  supplanted  Mr.  Wickfield  in  Charles 
Dickens'  story  of  David  Copper  field,  these  special- 
ist experts,  minions,  and  agents  have  not  alone  as- 
sumed full  direction  of  their  employers  in  the  field 
committed  to  them,  but  have  arrogated  to  them- 
selves a  dictatorial  authority  which  is  humiliating 
and  dangerous. 

"Well,"  says  the  business  man  who  may  happen 
to  glance  at  these  pages,  "suppose  for  the  moment 
that  you  are  right  in  claiming  that  I  and  every 
other  worth  while  American  who  is  alive  wire  in  the 
commercial  world  does  give  over  matters  of  edu~ 


196  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

cation,  finance,  and  politics  to  persons  specially 
trained  in  these  lines — What  of  it  ?  Does  that  mean 
thraldom?  Suppose  again  that  for  the  purpose 
of  keeping  ourselves  fit  for  general  administrative 
problems  we  fall  somewhat  in  error  by  letting 
these  people  function  for  us  in  the  field  committed 
to  their  care!  What  of  it?  Does  this  mean 
thraldom?" 

My  answer  is — "How  can  it  mean  otherwise? 
You  may  have  an  immediate  grip  on  business 
propositions  which  renders  it  possible  for  you  to 
make  much  money  and  secure  much  respect  from 
your  trading  compatriots,  but  the  fellow  who 
shapes  and  controls  the  political,  educational,  and 
fiscal  system  with  which  your  business  is  geared 
up  will  before  long  control  you.  You  are  a  bigger 
man  than  he  is  in  spite  of  his  technical  knowledge 
or  acquaintance  with  the  elaborate  intricacies  of 
party  policies.  If  you  are  a  captain  of  industry 
you  are  a  generalizer,  and  need  his  assistance  in 
matters  which  require  painstaking  analysis.  He 
is  a  specialist.  There  is  only  one  way  that  you 
can  use  the  expert  to  advantage  and  that  is  by 
taking  his  reports,  scrutinizing  them  and  noting 
whether  his  recommendations,  which  deserve 
your  admiration,  can  be  adjusted  to  your  big  plans 
without  dangerously  affecting  interests  which  you 
know  to  be  primary. 

"If  instead  of  doing  this  you  give  your  expert 
free  rein,  you  are  not  only  in  error,  but  are  shack- 


Thraldom  197 

ling  yourself  and  in  direct  proportion  to  the  im- 
portance of  the  matter  will  someday  have  to  bear 
the  consequence. 

I  have  instanced  the  case  of  a  captain  of  in- 
dustry. What  is  true  of  him  in  his  private  con- 
cerns is  true  of  the  aggregation  of  business  men 
and  is  equally  true  of  the  electorate. 

Both  the  individual  group  and  the  political 
entity,  known  as  the  people,  are  better  competent 
to  judge  in  regard  to  the  value  of  expert  findings 
made  for  them  than  is  the  expert.  When,  there- 
fore, they  allow  the  latter  to  draw  conclusions  and 
establish  policies  in  their  behalf,  they  accept 
intellectual  servitude. 

I  have  dared  to  say  that  this  is  exactly  what  the 
American  people  are  doing!  They  are  making 
themselves  the  slaves  of  their  agents.  Let  the 
reader  judge  for  himself.  Meantime,  I  desire  to 
point  out  that  this  obvious  neglect  of  public  duty 
not  only  reveals  political  incapacity  but  proves 
that  the  bulk  of  us  are  unqualified  to  protect 
ourselves  from  any  extortion  that  the  State  (obey- 
ing the  will  of  those  who  manipulate  its  machinery) 
may  decree. 

To  do  this  at  the  risk  of  repeating  matter  already 
discussed  I  shall  refer  again  to  our  experience  in 
the  sphere  of  education  which  was  the  subject  of  the 
last  chapter,  and  should  be  still  in  mind,  leaving 
it  for  those  who  are  interested  to  find  parallels  and 
analogies  in  our  political  and  economic  experience. 


198  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

We  have  seen  that  our  system  of  public  instruc- 
tion because  we  have  left  it  to  doctrinaires  is 
something  quite  different  from  what  the  great 
students  of  popular  government,  who  endorsed  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  had  in  mind  when 
they  launched  the  new  democracy.  It  remains  to 
bring  out  the  fact  that  public  education  as  we  see 
it  in  operation  under  the  superintendence  of  a 
trained  pedagogic  group  burdens  every  citizen 
with  taxes  to  a  degree  that  persons  qualified  to 
look  after  their  own  interests,  let  alone  those  of 
the  community,  would  not  accept  without  ex- 
amination. If  a  failure  to  buttress  with  evidence 
an  assertion  of  facts  that  are  supposed  to  be  of 
common  knowledge  leaves  the  cautious  American 
unconvinced,  it  is  hoped  that  he  will  at  least  be 
led  to  consider  whether  he  is  exhibiting  the  judg- 
ment which  his  political  forebears  regarded  as  an 
essential  characteristic  of  free  men. 

The  modus  operandi  of  public  education  in  the 
United  States  as  everyone  knows  is  to  take  all  the 
children  in  the  country  and  dump  them,  whether 
fit  or  unfit,  into  a  big  public  school  machine  known 
as  a  graded  system.  The  ingathering  and  assort- 
ing part  of  this  machine  can  be  compared  to  a  con- 
trivance consisting  of  a  series  of  sieves  varying  in 
the  mesh  and  placed  one  above  another.  The 
finest  mesh  is  at  the  bottom — each  successive 
sieve  has  a  wider  mesh.  The  coarsest  is  at  the 
top.  If  unsifted  gravel  is  put  in  the  top  sieve  only 


Thraldom  199 

the  very  largest  particles  will  remain  therein. 
The  rest  of  the  material  after  shaking  will  pass  on 
leaving  a  modicum  in  each  sieve  and  depositing 
the  finest  grade  in  the  lowest  receptacle. 

It  is  not  otherwise  with  the  assorting  part  of 
our  public  school  machine  and  the  product  which 
it  handles.  Whatever  else  this  machine  does 
there  is  no  question  but  that  it  is  fitted  to  classify 
the  children  and  set  apart  those  who  can  hope  with 
advantage  to  themselves  and  the  public,  to  remain 
at  their  books.  It  is  also  fitted  to  keep  the  people 
informed  as  to  whether  the  youth  of  the  country 
has  the  mental  caliber  which  fits  it  for  the  exercise 
of  the  franchise. 

Inasmuch  as  the  information  which  it  thus  re- 
turns is  of  infinite  importance  to  the  people,  one 
would  suppose  that  it  would  be  carefully  studied 
and  analyzed  by  the  citizenry  for  the  purpose  of 
determining  the  outlook  for  their  political  future; 
for  the  purpose  of  taking  steps  to  shape  instruction 
so  as  to  correct  evil  tendencies ;  and  for  the  purpose 
of  making  appropriations.  One  would  also  sup- 
pose that  confidence  would  be  withdrawn  from 
the  architects  of  a  system  found  to  be  worth- 
less. 

I  do  not  understand  that  the  returns  referred  to 
are  scrutinized  or  that  those  responsible  for  griev- 
ous errors  in  administration  are  called  to  account. 
The  people  think  of  these  matters  as  in  the  hands 
of  the  high  educational  authorities,  and  the  high 


200  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

educational  authorities  who  are  learned  in  peda- 
gogics neither  possess  the  political  sense  of  the 
people  nor  realize  that  their  first  duty  is  to  train  a 
citizen,  not  to  pump  knowledge  into  a  child.  In 
any  case  they  would  not  sit  in  judgment  on 
themselves. 

If  matters  were  different — if  democracy  was 
functioning  in  the  United  States  and  voters  were 
meeting  their  obligations  and  safeguarding  their 
interests,  they  would  quickly  learn  through  the 
channels  adverted  to : 

i. — That  the  great  mass  of  the  children  of  the 
country  have  no  special  aptitude  for  books  or  are 
unfitted  for  the  accumulation  of  abstract  informa- 
tion. 

2. — That  the  majority  of  these  children  already 
possess  faculties  which  will  enable  them  to  exercise 
reasonable  political  judgment  if  they  are  brought 
up  in  a  suitable  environment. 

3. — That  no  training  that  the  State  can  furnish 
will  provide  intellect  which  is  lacking  or  supply  a 
pupil  with  the  common  sense  which  many  of  its 
highly  educated  teachers  lack. 

4. — That  their  own  income  is  being  drawn 
heavily  upon  to  keep  up  an  elaborate  system 
which  does  more  harm  than  good. 

I  have  perfect  faith  that  with  these  findings 
before  them  the  American  people  would  draw 
safe  and  simple  deductions  and  would  thereafter 
take  action  which  would  extricate  them  from  the 


Thraldom  201 

involved  and  artificial  absurdities  into  which  their 
schoolmen  have  led  them.  May  we  not  rest  satis- 
fied that  these  6rc  .ctions  would  embrace  the 
following  conclr  - ;  .ns,  viz. : 

i. — A  conclusion  that  it  was  foolish  if  not 
dangerous  for  them  to  force  book-learning  that 
was  other  than  elementary  upon  children  who  were 
constitutionally  unable  to  use  it  for  their  own 
benefit  or  the  service  of  the  State. 

2. — A  conclusion  that  moral  training  and  the 
providing  of  fortunate  environment  for  the  youth 
of  the  country  should  be  substituted  for  some  of 
the  years  now  misspent  in  the  schoolroom.  This 
would  be  coupled  with  a  recognition  of  the  fact 
that  profitable  employment  which  appealed  to  the 
child's  natural  instincts  was  not  necessarily  an 
evil,  and  might  well  become  an  avenue  for  training. 

3. — A  conclusion  that  they  had  been  inexcusably 
foolish  in  heavily  taxing  themselves  for  the  up- 
keep of  an  extravagant  and  artificial  school 
system. 

4. — A  conclusion  that  all  the  mischief  of  past 
years,  viz. : 

a.  The  trend  toward  socialism  among  teachers 
and  pupils  all  through  the  land ; 

b.  The  mishandling  of  a  generation  which  is 
not  fit  to  assume  its  inevitable  political  responsi- 
bilities; 

c.  And  the  waste  of  the  people's  earnings;  have 
followed  the  delegation  of  responsibilities  which  a 


202  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

free  people  cannot  DELEGATE  without  surrendering 
their  freedom  to  the  specialist  in  education. 

The  great  and  serious  trouble  is  that  Americans 
do  not  examine  the  reports  that  come  to  them 
from  school  boards  of  various  sorts;  that  they  thus 
remain  ignorant  of  conditions  which  it  is  exceed- 
ingly important  that  they  should  know,  and  there- 
fore fail  to  realize  that  they  are  misled  and 
mulcted.  This  being  so,  we  cannot  expect  them 
to  take  the  action  in  matters  regarding  the  bring- 
ing-up  of  the  youth  that  their  interests  require 
until  it  is  too  late. 

Like  a  man  who  from  following  an  excellent 
practice  has  become  the  slave  of  a  habit  which, 
unperceived  by  him,  is  undermining  his  system, 
they  have  fallen  into  the  way  of  doing  the  will  of 
men  who  should  be  their  servants,  not  their  masters. 

Is  it  otherwise  in  finance  or  politics?  I  think 
not. 

Even  before  the  Civil  War  the  politician  had 
secured  sufficient  authority  to  dominate  in  all 
counsels  that  affected  government.  He  expressed 
what  was  supposed  to  be  the  thought  of  the  people, 
he  selected  their  representatives  for  legislative  and 
executive  office,  and  even  meddled  with  their 
judiciary. 

Thus  it  perhaps  naturally  came  about  that  he 
became  an  uncrowned  monarch — both  managing 
by  craft  the  well-meaning  folks  who  had  resented 
the  arrogance  of  king's  ministers — and  even  lash- 


Thraldom  203 

ing  statesmen  to  his  chariot.  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  the  great  American  figure  in  affairs  of  State 
during  those  times,  but  he  had  also  to  be  a  great 
politician  in  order  to  secure  the  ends  that  he 
craved. 

Whatever  was  true  of  him  has  been  increasingly 
true  of  those  in  public  office  since  his  time  who 
have  most  nearly  approached  him  in  their  grasp 
of  affairs  and  high  motives.  We  have  had,  and 
have,  statesmen  (only  a  few  now),  but  they  with 
us  pay  heavy  tribute  to  the  commonplace  poli- 
tician who  has  been  taking  matters  over  to  himself 
during  the  last  fifty  years,  and  who  now  shapes 
our  destinies  and  makes  us  dance  to  the  crack  of 
his  lash. 

It  is  a  patent  fact,  I  think,  that  we  must  have 
politicians,  and  I  have  listened  with  becoming 
gravity  to  those  who  have  sung  their  praises  and 
endeavored  to  make  it  plain  that  without  them 
chaos  would  impend ;  I  have  read  Lloyd  George's 
alleged  statement  that  great  politicians  are  bigger 
than  great  statesmen;  but  surely  whatever  their 
merit  and  service  may  be,  there  is  no  particular 
reason  why  we  should  turn  over  all  our  political 
interests  into  their  willing  hands.  Nothing  that 
most  of  us  can  note  specially  differentiates  them — 
a  great  many  of  them — from  the  people,  except 
that  they  are  caught  young,  have  an  aptitude  for 
feeding  out  of  the  public  crib,  and  learn  to  accept 
the  ultimatum  of  some  high  "muck-a-muck"  who 


204  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  knows  more  about  wire- 
pulling than  the  business  of  life. 

These  attributes  are  well  enough  in  their  places 
but  we  forget  that  the  best  of  the  politicians, 
whether  in  the  affairs  of  a  city  ward  or  in  the 
broader  matters  which  affect  the  whole  nation, 
are  rarely  the  equal  of  the  particular  group  of  citi- 
zens with  which  they  move,  and  are  for  the  most 
part  totally  incapable  of  passing  on  affairs  that 
affect  destiny.  We  shall  do  well  then  if  we  disen- 
gage our  necks  from  the  yoke  that  they  have 
deftly  thrown  upon  us,  for  the  times  are  full  of 
peril  and  the  Nation  is  perishing  because  of  a 
failure  to  manage  its  own  concerns.  What  is 
true  of  the  politician  is  true  of  the  financier  who, 
perhaps,  is  in  the  last  analysis  not  only  the 
uncrowned  king  of  the  American  people  but 
suzerain  lord  of  their  educators  and  politicians. 


CHAPTER  V 

AMERICANIZATION 

NOTHING  is  more  discouraging  to  those  who 
review  the  outlook  for  democracy  in  the 
United  States  than  the  Nation's  lack  of  corrective 
sense. 

Prior  to  its  birth  the  American  colonist  had 
faced  exceeding  great  perils  because  of  savage  foray 
and  European  diplomacy.  A  ready  rifle  and 
ability  to  concentrate  were  his  salvation. 

During  the  early  days  of  nationality  the  people  of 
federated  States  were  forced  to  meet  a  succession 
of  internal  difficulties  which,  ending  with  the  Civil 
War,  might  well  have  caused  their  disruption. 
Their  ability  to  meet  these  is  explained  by  the 
experiences  of  the  Revolution  which  continued 
vivid  in  their  minds,  and  the  fact  that  they  still 
possessed  trained  leaders  who  were  equal  to  the 
problems  of  a  comparatively  small  people.  Great 
sections  could  still  act  as  a  unit  with  a  common 
motive  and  appreciation  of  the  status. 

In  spite  of  the  magnificent  spirit  recently  ex- 
hibited by  those  of  its  young  men  who  inherit  or 

205 


206  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

have  caught  the  spirit  of  the  past,  the  Republic  no 
longer  possesses  the  faculty  of  self-protection 
which  belonged  to  earlier  generations.  This  has 
been  effectually  demonstrated  by  our  late  entry 
into  the  World  War.  President  Wilson  has  been 
charged  with  failing  to  declare  war.  Whatever 
else  may  be  laid  at  his  door,  the  error  was  not  his 
but  that  of  the  Nation.  If  ever  since  Chaos  there 
was  a  moment  when  a  free  people  was  called  upon 
to  declare  war,  it  came  with  the  foul  onslaught 
made  upon  a  sister  nation  by  an  autocracy  which 
impudently  asserted  its  intention  to  rip  up  every 
principle  that  was  vital  to  liberty. 

Our  unique  position  as  the  champion  of  de- 
mocracy, our  engagements  under  the  Hague  Con- 
vention, our  honor,  and  our  life  were  all  at  stake. 
So  were  our  pocket-books,  a  fact  which  ought  to 
have  appealed  to  any  commercialized  State. 

In  the  face  of  these  cumulative  reasons  for  ac- 
tion, the  people  were  not  ready  for  war  or  for 
preparation  for  war,  and  the  Administration, 
whatever  else  it  lacked,  showed  a  shrewd  sense  in 
sizing  up  the  deplorable  blindness  for  which 
Americans  will  continue  to  pay  for  many  a  long 
year. 

Could  there  be  a  better  instance  of  national 
impotence? 

As  we  have  failed  to  do  the  obvious  in  external 
affairs  so  it  is  with  matters  which  have  to  do  with 
internal  economy. 


Americanization  207 

A  few  years  ago  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
visiting  this  country,  took  occasion  to  say  in  effect 
that  all  Europe,  all  civilization  was  watching  our 
extraordinary  experiences  in  the  handling  of  alien 
peoples.  He  added  enough  to  make  it  perfectly 
clear  that  thinking  people  to  whom  the  problem 
was  of  no  immediate  concern,  believed  it  to  be 
insoluble. 

I  make  this  reference  to  introduce  the  fact  that 
our  chief  domestic  solicitude  at  present  arises  from 
the  character  of  the  population  of  the  United  States 
which  is  so  amazingly  heterogeneous  and  which  is 
under  particular  discussion  in  this  book. 

If  the  reader  agrees  that  the  status  thus 
adverted  to  constitutes  our  greatest  cause  for 
anxiety,  he  will  probably  admit  that  some  con- 
sideration of  Americanization,  the  machinery 
which  the  Government  with  the  endorsement  of 
the  people  is  using  to  meet  a  major  dilemma,  will 
illustrate  our  fitness  or  ineptness  to  meet  an 
internal  crisis. 

However  this  may  be,  there  is  occasion  to  give 
attention  to  this  extraordinary  Americanization 
campaign  as  it  not  only  brings  into  the  limelight 
characteristics  of  our  established  citizenry  and  the 
foreign  element  which  surrounds  and  invades  it, 
but  will  also  serve  the  purpose  of  this  chapter., 

Americanization  is,  as  has  been  shrewdly  ob- 
served by  a  sociologist  of  standing  who  might  be 
expected  to  advocate  such  a  plan  of  procedure, 


208  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

"Something  done  to  somebody  by  somebody 
else." 

It  took  its  beginnings  neither  from  insistent 
pressure  brought  to  bear  on  the  legislative  by  the 
people,  nor  from  the  initiative  of  a  legislative  com- 
mittee, but  with  a  department  of  the  National 
Government  which  has  not  been  oversagacious  in 
its  interpretation  of  our  political  principles  and 
distinctly  by  group  suggestion. 

Its  appeal,  which  was  that  of  the  Government, 
was  to  public  schools,  chambers  of  commerce, 
patriotic  societies,  and  loyal  citizens. 

Its  frank  purpose  was  to  make  the  foreigner 
into  an  American,  and,  presumably  because  it 
sounded  patriotic,  at  once  enlisted  as  its  agents 
many  thousands  of  good  citizens  who  had  been 
engaged  in  war  work,  and  generously  sought  to 
give  further  proof  of  their  devotion  to  the  country. 

Under  such  auspices  it  soon  swept  far  beyond  the 
limit  that  Know-nothingism  reached  in  its  time. 
Americanization  or  Americanism  committees  were 
installed  in  cities  and  villages  throughout  the  land. 
Some  of  these  operated  independently,  others 
identified  with  existing  organizations  testified  to 
the  desire  of  the  latter  to  assist  in  dealing  with  a 
recognized  peril.  Thus  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  used  the  phrase  in  connection  with 
its  splendid  industrial  work ;  the  American  Legion 
arranged  to  push  its  patriotic  work  under  the  title 
of  Americanization  or  Americanism,  and  even 


Americanization  209 

state  governments  and  religious  denominations 
gave  the  movement  official  endorsement. 

Americanization  became,  and  I  regret  to  say,  is 
the  watchword  of  the  hour,  and  even  those  who 
protest  the  phrase — I  speak  advisedly  because  of 
presumed  action — have  been  compelled  to  in  some 
degree  accept  the  Shibboleth  or  leave  the  impres- 
sion that  they  were  lacking  in  patriotism. 

There  is  certainly,  therefore,  ground  for  my 
claim  that  Americans  as  a  whole  realize  that  the 
surplusage  of  foreigners  or  people  with  foreign 
traditions  presents  an  issue  that  must  be  handled, 
and  that  the  majority  of  the  best  Americans  have 
selected  Americanization  as  the  proper  method  of 
dealing  with  a  question  that  is  in  the  highest 
degree  puzzling. 

It  follows  that  if  it  is  shown  that  Americaniza- 
tion is  not  a  suitable  way  of  dealing  with  this  great 
problem,  the  whole  circumstance  or  adventure  will 
serve  to  illustrate  how  unfortunate  the  Nation 
can  be  in  handling  a  serious  proposition. 

I  claim  that  Americanization  is  not  a  suitable 
way  of  handling  a  bad  situation  which  it  is  sup- 
posed to  correct : 

i . — Because  of  its  vagueness. 

2. — Because  it  suggests  patronage  or  superiority 
on  the  part  of  those  exercising  the  process. 

3. — Because  it  is  coercive  and  at  odds  with  the 
traditions  of  the  Republic. 
14 


210  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

4. — Because  of  abundant  facts  showing  that  it  is 
resented  by  the  persons  to  be  Americanized. 

5. — Because  of  its  results  which  should  have 
been  foreseen. 

i. — During  my  first  journey  to  Europe  in  1886 
I  not  only  met  Brazilians,  Venezuelans,  Mexi- 
cans, and  residents  of  Argentina,  who  claimed  to 
be  Americans,  but  frequently  heard  such  fellow- 
travelers  spoken  of  by  Europeans  as  Americans. 
Accustomed  as  I  was  to  the  home  use  of  the  phrase 
as  indicating  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  the 
experience  was  somewhat  surprising  and  disturb- 
ing. While  it  settled  nothing,  it  evidenced  the 
fact  that  the  people  of  Europe  used  the  phrase  in 
a  sense  different  from  the  one  with  which  I  was 
familiar,  and  were  inclined  to  speak  of  all  people 
coming  from  the  Western  Hemisphere  as 
Americans. 

Since  the  days  adverted  to  I  have  glanced  at 
many  interesting  papers  upon  the  general  subject 
and  long  since  came  to  the  definite  conclusion  that 
the  people  of  the  United  States  commit  no  im- 
propriety in  claiming  the  title  of  Americans  and 
holding  it  against  all  parties.  Meanwhile,  I  find 
it  difficult  to  reconcile  the  fact  that  they  have 
selected  the  title  for  a  patriotic  campaign  which 
they  know  must  be  confusing  and  misleading  to 
the  people  whose  status  is  to  be  affected  by  their 
effort. 


Americanization  211 

Passing  this  point  another  query  occurs  to  me. 
What  do  we  mean  ourselves  when  we  talk  of 
Americanization,  and  what  does  the  foreigner, 
who  grasps  the  fact  that  we  desire  to  turn  him 
into  a  citizen  of  this  country,  think  we  mean? 

Am  I  not  right  in  concluding  that  the  Ameri- 
canizer  who  has  advanced  sociological  views  de- 
sires to  make  his  or  her  victim  an  advanced  social 
thinker?  In  fact  that  every  propagandist,  what- 
ever his  complexion  of  mind,  expects  that  the  per- 
son operated  upon  in  his  Americanization  efforts 
will  reflect  his  idea  of  what  it  is  to  be  an  American. 

If  this  is  so,  the  extreme  radical  who  exercises 
the  franchise,  but  who  looks  forward  to  a  Soviet 
state,  is  seeking  in  his  Americanization  campaign 
for  converts  to  such  a  state,  and  the  ultra-con- 
servative, who  believes  that  individualism  is  for 
him  alone,  and  not  for  the  crowd,  is  endeavoring 
to  snare  persons  whose  votes  he  can  command  for 
his  own  purposes. 

As  a  result  we  have  a  hundred  cults  within  the 
Nation,  each  doing  Americanization  work  for  the 
object  of  their  own  cult.  It  may  be  well  enough 
to  join  parties  with  widely  divergent  views  in 
cases  like  those  which  have  to  do  with  hygiene, 
good  morals,  etc.,  where  persons  of  various  poli- 
tical creeds  can  unite  without  surrendering  their 
principles.  But  the  Americanization  campaign 
is  not  one  of  these  cases  and  the  joinder  of  Soviet 
Americans  and  the  like  with  constitutional  Ameri- 


212  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

cans  indicates  that  one  group  or  the  other  group 
has  abandoned  its  principles. 

We  are  facing  a  great  and  acknowledged  exi- 
gency, and  patriotic  people  are  endeavoring  to 
provide  for  the  perpetuation  of  the  Republic. 
Nothing  can  be  gained  and  much  must  be  lost  by 
a  failure  to  state  the  purpose  of  any  endeavor  to 
this  end  with  absolute  clearness. 

It  is  quite  true  that  those  who  seek  to  win  new 
recruits  to  the  support  of  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion might  lose  the  support  of  millions  of  their 
fellow-citizens  by  insisting  upon  clarity  of  state- 
ment, but  their  efforts  would  not  only  produce 
solidarity  and  enthusiasm,  but  would  tend  to  clear 
the  air  and  inform  them  regarding  conditions  in 
their  own  neighborhoods  which  may  well  give 
cause  for  apprehension. 

Meantime,  I  believe  that  the  Americanization 
campaign  is  not  only  likely  to  thwart  the  designs 
of  those  who  are  loyal  to  American  traditions,  but 
is  actually  enlisting  their  unwitting  support  in 
movements  with  which  they  have  no  sympathy. 

If  Americanization  has  widely  different  mean- 
ings to  various  groups  of  citizens  who  are  engaged 
in  the  movement,  it  will  not  surprise  us  to  learn 
that  the  term  carries  a  hundred  meanings  to  the 
foreigner. 

To  the  submerged,  who  views  the  over-dressed 
and  bejewelled  bowery  boy,  who  has  secured  the 
right  to  vote,  as  a  product  of  Americanization,  it 


Americanization  2 1 3 

means  flash  and  glitter.  To  the  hard-working, 
slow-thinking  peasant  who  digs  our  sewers  and 
performs  tedious  labor  required  by  public  works 
and  manufacturing  enterprises,  it  means  rush  and 
clamor  and  everything  that  is  enterprising  but 
unlovely.  To  various  radicals  it  means  the  sub- 
mission of  mind  and  spirit  to  the  exactions  of 
capitalism,  and  it  takes  on  innumerable  complex- 
ions according  to  the  racial  background  and 
American  environment  of  the  immigrant. 

Being  open,  therefore,  to  such  various  inter- 
pretations it  puts  every  group  which  is  engaged  in 
the  far-reaching  movement  at  an  immediate  and 
perplexing  disadvantage.  Is  it  not  extraordinary 
that  a  people  that  is  wedded  to  business  methods 
should  lack  the  business  sense  to  appreciate  this? 

2. — If  we  as  a  commercial  nation  have  selected 
an  obscure  phrase  in  our  endeavor  to  secure  a  de- 
fined result,  it  is  not  surprising  that  we  have  also 
shown  ourselves  devoid  of  tact.  Unfortunately, 
failure  to  sense  the  proprieties  in  the  Americaniza- 
tion campaign  or  in  other  matters  is  just  as  ex- 
pensive as  a  business  blunder.  It  is  well  enough 
for  us  to  err  in  everything  which  has  to  do  with 
the  amenities  of  social  intercourse  when  it  comes 
to  matters  which  affect  ourselves  alone  because  as 
a  people  we  are  not  over-susceptible  to  the  niceties 
of  polite  discourse.  Meanwhile,  the  quick-witted 
among  us  ought  to  appreciate  that  even  the 
strangely-clad,  heavy-footed  alien,  who  comes 


214  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

from  the  rural  sections  of  southern  and  eastern 
Europe,  is  exceedingly  quick  in  matters  which  have 
to  do  with  certain  basic  proprieties  and  is  more 
quickly  reached  where  action  and  phrase  is  courte- 
ous even  if  disingenuous  than  when  it  is  abrupt  and 
lacks  the  sort  of  consideration  which  his  amour 
propre  demands. 

If  the  leaders  in  the  Americanization  enterprise 
had  given  fair  attention  to  facts,  they  would  have 
taken  the  foreigner's  temperament  into  considera- 
tion and  would  have  avoided  offending  the  persons 
whom  they  sought  to  reach.  Let  us  suppose,  how- 
ever, that  they  are  excusable  for  not  understand- 
ing conditions  as  they  exist,  on  the  ground  that  a 
mere  political  question  is  of  subsidiary  importance 
to  a  business  one.  What  shall  we  say  in  regard  to 
their  failure  to  realize  that  human  nature,  Ameri- 
can as  well  as  European,  dislikes  patronage,  and  is 
repelled  by  the  intimation  that  it  lacks  some- 
thing possessed  by  those  who  are  attempting  its 
reformation. 

In  the  beginning  of  this  chapter  I  called  atten- 
tion to  an  apt  definition  of  Americanization 
which  is  described  as  being  "something  done  to 
somebody  by  somebody  else."' 

Is  it  not  singular  that  American  people  in 
launching  the  Americanization  campaign  over- 
looked the  fact  that  no  human  being  likes  to  have 
something  done  to  him  willy-nilly,  even  if  it  be  for 
his  own  good ;  that  human  beings  automatically 


Americanization  215 

put  themselves  in  an  attitude  of  defiance  when 
the  thing  that  is  to  be  done  to  them  is  done  by 
fellow-mortals,  and  that  they  are  particularly 
sensitive  when  somebody  else,  who  is  behind  the 
reform,  does  not  hesitate  to  frankly  and  in- 
genuously assume  superiority. 

3. — I  can  understand  how  an  African  slave- 
dealer  might  say  to  a  shackled  chain-gang,  "It  is 
perfectly  clear  to  me  that  you  prefer  to  share 
Africa  with  the  beasts  of  the  jungle,  but  it  suits 
my  purpose  to  have  you  hew  wood  and  carry  water 
for  the  cotton-raising  planters  of  the  United  States. ' ' 

I  can  also  understand  how  a  State  Minister  of 
the  old  school  could  say  to  a  subject  people,  "I 
apprehend  that  it  would  be  agreeable  to  you  if  you 
could  manage  your  own  affairs,  but  I  prefer  to 
direct  those  affairs  myself";  or  how  the  manager 
of  many  sweat  shops  could  say  to  his  perspiring 
victims,  "I  am  conscious  that  you  would  rather 
secure  shorter  hours,  or  more  pay,  but  it  is  profit- 
able for  me  to  make  other  arrangements  for  you." 

In  these  various  cases — the  slave-dealer,  the 
Minister  of  State,  the  sweat-shop  keeper — regards 
himself  as  an  autocrat,  and  if  we  accept  his  prem- 
ises, can  logically  defend  his  position. 

I  cannot  understand  how  any  American,  who 
subscribes  to  a  rationally  interpreted  Declaration 
of  Independence  and  to  other  state  papers  which 
are  supposed  to  recite  the  convictions  of  a  Nation, 
can  join  in  a  campaign  to  "do  something  to  some- 


216  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

body  else"  when  the  subject  of  his  endeavor 
properly  resents  his  good  offices. 

"Independence"  used  to  be  a  watchword,  and 
it  carried  with  it  the  thought  that  while  we  should 
be  quick  to  assert  our  own  independence,  we  should 
never  be  found  lacking  in  sympathy  with  other 
persons  who  subscribed  to  similar  declarations. 

Are  we  not  worse  than  hypocritical  when  we  at- 
tempt (as  do  many  communities  and  individual 
employers  of  labor)  to  coerce  foreigners  into  citi- 
zenship, or  to  exert  undue  pressure  upon  a  person 
who  has  indicated  no  desire  to  cast  in  his  lot 
with  us? 

What  reason  under  the  sun  can  be  given  for  our 
interfering  with  the  regulated  movement  through 
the  States  of  such  people  as  we  choose  to  admit 
within  our  gates?  We  are  at  liberty  at  any  time 
to  refuse  them  admittance  or  to  curtail  their  period 
of  residence.  Unless  we  are  blinded  by  a  desire  to 
secure  their  assistance  in  some  political  scheme 
for  our  own  advancement  or  that  of  our  party,  we 
know  perfectly  well  that  induction  into  citizenship 
of  those  who  do  not  come  quite  freely  of  them- 
selves, instead  of  being  a  benefit  is  a  hurt  to  the 
state. 

There  is  no  reason  to  apprehend  that  we  shall 
have  difficulty  at  any  time  in  securing  such  tempo- 
rary labor  as  we  need  from  across  seas.  Why 
then  this  strange,  inconsistent  effort  to  enroll 
myriads  of  unfit  aliens  in  our  citizenry  ? 


Americanization  217 

4. — More  than  ten  years  ago  social  outbreaks  in 
various  cities  of  the  United  States  brought  home 
to  the  social  workers  in  such  centers  the  fact  that 
the  people  in  the  foreign  colonies  were  not  only  very 
human  but  that  they  were  also  exceedingly  temper- 
amental. Efforts  had  been  made  by  kindly  dis- 
posed people  in  these  centers  to  acquaint  certain 
racial  groups  with  American  customs  and  institu- 
tions. Not  only  had  attractive  lectures  been 
staged  at  a  considerable  expense,  but  centers  had 
been  opened  for  the  entertainment  and  instruction 
of  the  alien.  For  the  support  of  their  welfare 
work  humane  manufacturers  erected  club  houses 
in  centers  of  recreation.  In  the  great  industrial 
cities  opportunities  were  offered  the  foreigner  to 
display  his  or  her  handicraft  and  take  part  in 
pageants,  which  gave  them  an  opportunity  to 
wear  their  national  costumes  and  sing  their 
national  songs.  For  the  most  part  these  efforts  were 
directed  by  people  who  were  well  acquainted  with 
the  alien,  and  who  knew  what  to  avoid  and  what 
to  encourage  in  their  endeavor  to  get  closer  to  him. 

Notwithstanding  the  purity  of  purpose  and  the 
exceeding  care  with  which  such  work  was  directed, 
it  led  to  vituperation  and  scurrilous  abuse  in  the 
foreign  press  and  to  numerous  meetings  of  protest 
in  which  the  remonstrants  did  not  hesitate  to 
state  their  position.  In  substance  these  were 
to  the  same  effect,  viz.,  that  the  European  in 
America  had  his  own  culture,  his  own  language,  his 


218  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

own  customs,  his  own  traditions,  and  that  he  was 
satisfied  with  these.  While  he  recognized  the 
good  intentions  of  those  who  sought  to  divorce 
him  from  all  that  he  was  familiar  with,  he  felt  it 
to  be  no  virtue  to  disguise  the  fact  that  such  activi- 
ties as  were  then  popular  were  an  intrusion  upon 
his  privacy,  an  invasion  of  his  personal  rights,  and 
a  distinct  impertinence. 

As  a  consequence  of  these  arguments  which 
were  frequently  forcefully  put,  more  than  one 
beautiful  hall,  which  was  erected  at  a  considerable 
expense  for  the  benefit  of  non-English-speaking 
people,  was  vacated.  Conscientious  workers  in 
the  colonies  found  themselves  without  a  following, 
and  there  was  general  dismay. 

It  would  seem  as  if  this  experience  would  have 
put  Americans  upon  their  guard.  Intelligent 
persons  among  them  who  had  attempted  the  work 
of  assimilation,  had  developed  the  extreme  sensi- 
tiveness of  the  foreigner  and  at  the  same  time  had 
given  him  a  chance  to  register  his  emphatic 
objection  against  being  Americanized. 

Incidents  of  the  sort  referred  to  had  also  given 
thinking  people  an  opportunity  for  reconsidera- 
tion. Such  persons,  putting  themselves  in  the 
foreigner's  place,  although  for  the  most  part  of  a 
less  mercurial  Anglo-Saxon  temperament,  could 
not  help  acknowledging  that  if  they  had  been  resi- 
dent in  Italy  or  Germany,  they  would  have  de- 
precated, if  not  bitterly  objected  to,  any  attempt 


Americanization  219 

to  Italianize  or  Germanize  them.  This  too,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  they  may  have  already 
formed  an  affection  for  the  country  which  had 
provided  them  with  a  home. 

How  can  we  reconcile  our  knowledge  of  such 
incidents  as  are  thus  briefly  touched  upon  and  the 
following  enlightenment,  with  the  launching  of  an 
Americanization  program  in  which  uninformed 
people  knowing  nothing  of  the  susceptibilities  of 
the  non-English-speaking  population,  are  attempt- 
ing to  crowd  the  latter  by  law,  ordinance,  and 
personal  endeavor  into  citizenship. 

As  I  review  the  extraordinarily  disastrous  move- 
ments that  have  followed  the  appeal  of  the  Federal 
Department  of  Education,  I  recall  the  impatience 
shown  by  an  eminent  prelate  in  bringing  to  my 
attention  certain  missionary  work  which  was  being 
carried  on  by  social  workers  in  a  well-behaved 
foreign  section  of  a  great  metropolitan  city.  It 
seems  that  in  this  particular  instance  women  with 
an  aptitude  for  slumming  had  gone  into  an  Italian 
community  which  was  occupied  by  persons  of 
small  means  but  of  considerable  refinement,  and 
had  endeavored  to  substitute  for  things  that  were 
artistic  but  foreign,  furnishings  that  were  as  ugly 
as  they  were  American. 

It  happened  that  the  prelate  in  question,  who 
not  only  knew  the  foreign  people  in  his  own  dio- 
cese but  had  lived  long  in  Europe,  added  to  breadth 
of  mind  and  sympathy,  an  understanding  of  na- 


220  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

tional  cults  which  enabled  him  to  diagnose  the 
situation.  He  found  it  difficult  to  express  his 
aversion  not  only  to  the  attitude  of  the  slummers, 
which  was  that  of  superiority,  but  to  the  specific 
reforms  that  they  were  initiating,  which  were  in 
bad  taste  and  repellent. 

"Why,"  he  asked,  "do  these  people  of  little 
taste  insult  the  sensibilities  of  inoffensive  foreign- 
ers? They  come  from  European  surroundings 
which  contain  marvels  of  artistic  achievement, 
and  they  belong  to  a  race  which  is  keenly  sensitive 
to  such  impressions  as  were  provided  by  their  en- 
vironment. Some  of  the  poorest  among  them 
have  a  deeper  appreciation  of  form,  color  and 
music  than  any  of  the  people  who  are  now  patron- 
izing them." 

TJie  attempt  which  these  missionaries  and  social 
workers  are  making,  as  they  suppose  in  the  inter- 
ests of  happy  reform,  not  only  fails  of  its  object 
but  subjects  them  to  the  sort  of  contempt  which 
will  prove  a  barrier  to  further  intercourse. 

I  have  adverted  to  a  single  instance  to  illustrate 
a  situation.  To  my  mind  the  Americanization 
movement  has  not  only  failed  to  secure  the  object 
which  its  promoters  had  in  mind,  but  it  has  had  the 
effect  of  making  the  Nation  ridiculous  in  the  eyes 
of  those  who  are  supposed  to  be  benefited. 

5. — The  results  are  everywhere  apparent.  In- 
dividuals who  were  not  ill-disposed  toward  rational 
overtures  which  looked  to  their  improvement  but 


Americanization  221 

which  carefully  avoided  every  suggestion  of 
patronage,  are  dropping  out  of  educational  classes 
which  have  adopted  the  Americanization  program. 
Foreign  publicists  and  patriotic  agents  who  ad- 
mire our  democratic  principles,  and  who  were  in 
the  way  of  securing  a  following  among  the  foreign 
groups  with  which  they  are  in  touch  have  lost 
their  prestige.  Racial  societies  are  putting  them- 
selves on  record  as  prepared  to  fight  American 
claims  of  superiority.  Foreign  workmen  are  up 
in  arms  and  the  whole  heaving,  restless  mass 
of  non-English-speaking  labor,  persuaded  that 
Americanization  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  an 
attempt  on  the  part  of  capitalism  to  secure  a 
strangle  hold  upon  them,  are  expressing  their 
scorn  and  hatred  for  the  persons  who  are  behind 
the  movement. 

I  am  fortunate  in  being  able  to  give  a  concrete 
example  to  illustrate  the  manner  in  which  this  un- 
happy endeavor  to  relieve  ourselves  from  a  serious 
embarrassment  has  befogged  a  threatened  situa- 
tion. At  the  chose  of  the  Great  War  it  will  be  re- 
membered that  revolutionary  forces  in  the  United 
States — whether  or  not  aroused  by  Soviet  agents, 
set  themselves  to  overturn  the  industrial  system 
or  at  least  feel  out  their  own  strength.  Three  or 
four  industrial  centers  in  the  United  States  were 
selected  as  the  battleground.  In  the  chief  of  these 
which  secured  unenviable  publicity  because  of  the 
fierceness  with  which  sometime  workers  now  on 


222  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

strike  assailed  the  employing  class,  there  occurred 
a  series  of  demonstrations  which  were  alarming  in 
their  magnitude  and  character. 

To  meet  the  rhetorical  assaults  of  a  great  num- 
ber of  radical  speakers  who  hastened  into  this 
municipality  in  order  to  stir  up  the  crowd  and  fit 
it  for  aggressive  revolutionary  action,  a  number  of 
Americanization  agents  endorsed  by  the  Govern- 
ment or  societies  directly  cooperating  therewith 
were  put  upon  the  lyceum  platform.  Among  these 
was  a  man  of  great  power  whose  name  had  the 
effect  of  filling  the  hall  in  which  he  was  scheduled 
to  speak.  Such  was  his  reputation  that  at  the 
beginning  of  his  address,  which  was  placatory  in 
its  character,  he  received  respectful  attention. 
Lured  by  this  seeming  willingness  of  the  audience 
to  accept  his  proposition  the  speaker  hastened  to 
adapt  his  Americanization  vocabulary  to  what  he 
believed  to  be  the  need  of  the  hour,  painted  the 
glories  of  the  United  States,  touched  upon  the 
high  points  in  its  history,  glorified  its  industrial 
achievements,  asserted  its  claim  to  leadership,  and 
pointed  to  the  success  of  its  arms  in  the  battle- 
fields of  France  and  Flanders.  Almost  immedi- 
ately the  huge  audience  was  astir,  groans  and 
hisses  broke  the  preceding  silence  and  various  in- 
dividuals attempted  to  reach  the  platform.  One 
of  these,  an  agitator  of  notoriety,  whose  command- 
ing voice  and  fiery  temper  permitted  him  to 
dominate  the  situation,  not  only  interrupted  the 


Americanization  223 

Americanizer  but  actually  crowded  him  out  of  his 
place  on  the  platform  amid  the  wild  plaudits  of  the 
crowd.  This  done,  in  sentences  which  boiled  with 
wrath  and  resentment,  he  insisted  that  the  speaker 
of  the  evening  was  an  agent  of  capitalism  and  had 
proved  himself  so  by  his  address.  Americaniza- 
tion, he  insisted,  was  an  expression  of  the  contempt 
which  Americans  had  for  all  foreign  people,  and 
voiced  their  determination  to  reduce  all  such  to 
their  own  purposes.  Americanization  meant  a 
widening  of  the  gap  between  the  classes,  dominance 
of  the  employer  and  the  peonage  and  enslavement 
of  the  worker.  If  the  Americanization  campaign 
was  permitted  to  continue  the  free  spirits  of  Italy, 
Poland  and  Russia  now  resident  in  America  would 
first  lose  their  independence  by  coming  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  American  courts  which  were 
the  agencies  of  rich  American  autocrats.  This 
accomplished,  nothing  but  peonage  could  be  ex- 
pected. America  claimed  to  be  the  land  of  the  free, 
but  as  everyone  knew  had  become  the  instrument 
of  a  tyrannous  group  of  autocrats,  who  used  the 
people  as  their  tool.  If  European  workers  in 
America's  industrial  cities  were  not  alert  they 
would  be  Americanized  into  perpetual  servitude. 
And  so  on  ad  nauseam  until  the  great  crowd,  which 
in  the  beginning  had  been  slow  to  align  itself  with 
the  strikers,  had  become  earnest  partisans. 

While  this  may  be  an  extreme  instance  to  illus- 
trate the  manner  in  which  Americanization  defeats 


224  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

its  own  ends,  it  reflects  the  reaction  which  the 
campaign  has  had  upon  the  foreign  mind. 

For  many  years  now  the  major  part  of  the  alien 
masses  colonized  among  us  have  been  nursing 
their  wrath  because  of  their  experiences  on  this 
side  of  the  water.  Never  forgetting  the  manner  in 
which  they  were  victimized  after  landing,  they 
vividly  recall  the  various  labor  wars  in  which 
they  or  their  friends  have  been  involved  through 
what  they  believe  to  be  the  cupidity  of  the  em- 
ploying class.  If  they  have  not  actually  suffered 
some  hurt  from  the  workings  of  a  system  which 
they  do  not  understand,  they  were  long  since  per- 
suaded by  radical  agencies  to  believe  that  the 
lines  of  cleavage  which  divide  them  from  the 
English-speaking  population  have  been  fixed  by 
the  American  people,  or  those  who  dictate  the 
policy  of  that  people. 

Sensitive  beyond  expression  to  ridicule  and  dis- 
dain, they  know  that  they  are  contemptuously 
characterized  as  dagoes  and  wops.  Is  it  not  pass- 
ing strange  that  we  should  expect  them  to  do  other 
than  to  view  with  sullen  uneasiness  and  impatience 
the  invitation  in  which  their  oppressors  request 
them  to  become  like  unto  themselves?  Evidently 
the  Educational  Department  of  the  National  Gov- 
ernment, as  well  as  various  state  bureaus  think 
not,  because  they  are  not  only  pushing  American- 
ization, but  are  giving  it  a  coercive  tang.  Evi- 
dently the  manufacturer,  who  has  been  issuing 


Americanization  225 

curt  and  Man-handling  intimations  that  if  the 
foreigners  in  his  employ  do  not  become  Ameri- 
canized they  will  lose  their  jobs,  thinks  not. 

Evidently  the  American  people,  as  far  as  they 
have  been  permitted  to  give  themselves  expression, 
think  not,  or  long  before  this  they  would  have  put 
an  end  to  such  ill-conceived  designs  to  rescue  them 
from  the  predicament  into  which  they  have  gone 

open-eyed, 
is 


CHAPTER  VI 

CORRUPT   AGENTS 

\Y7HILE  the  absorption  of  Americans  in  other 
™  than  political  matters  largely  explains  their 
failure  to  appreciate  the  complications  which  are 
being  forced  upon  them  by  the  presence  of  alien 
peoples,  there  are  other  influences  which  work  to 
the  same  end. 

One  of  the  most  dangerous  of  these  is  the 
foreigner  who,  after  satisfying  the  well-meaning 
people  of  his  district  that  he  has  become  Ameri- 
canized, and  offering  himself  as  an  interpreter 
and  counsellor,  wilfully  misleads  them. 

I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  most  of  these  vol- 
unteers are  undependable  although  I  hasten  to 
couple  the  statement  with  two  assertions : 

i. — That  the  average  respectable  foreigner  is 
either  absorbed  in  his  own  concerns  or  does  not 
think  himself  fitted  for  community  work,  and 
should  not  be  confused  with  his  shifty  com- 
patriots whom  he  regards  with  suspicion. 

2. — That  if  it  were  not  for  the  assistance  of  a 
comparatively  few  high-minded  foreigners, who  also 

226 


Corrupt  Agents  227 

go  into  public  work  on  their  own  initiative,  con- 
structive Americans  who  are  seeking  to  better 
relations  with  the  non-English-speaking  public 
could  do  little.  Among  these  latter  are  many  who 
compare  favorably  with  the  American  of  the 
highest  type. 

A  circumstance  which  happened  to  me  more 
than  twelve  years  ago  first  opened  my  eyes  to  the 
undependability  of  the  volunteer  who  has  not 
undergone  rigid  scrutiny  and  cross-examination. 
Although  at  that  time  I  was  informed  that  many 
of  the  foreign-speaking  intermediaries,  who  were 
preying  upon  incoming  immigrants,  were  also 
representatives  of  various  American  societies,  I 
did  not  appreciate  the  impudent  audacity  of  which 
they  were  capable  until  I  made  the  acquaintance 
of  a  young  Russian,  who  came  under  observation 
as  one  of  a  group  of  foreigners  who  was  taking 
the  evening  courses  of  a  vigorous  and  important 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  Invited  with  others  to  form  a  club 
for  self -betterment  and  for  the  instruction  of  his 
own  people,  this  young  fellow  was  not  only  help- 
ful, but  exceedingly  efficient.  Although  he  was 
not  more  than  eighteen  years  of  age  and  had  been 
but  a  short  time  resident  in  the  United  States,  he 
spoke  English  with  a  charm  which  added  to  his 
attractiveness  and  with  a  facility  which  was  extra- 
ordinary. There  was  no  question  as  to  his  capa- 
bility. He  was  handsome,  upstanding  and  tactful. 
He  knew  his  own  people  and  could  tell  of  their 


228  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

methods  of  living  in  Europe  with  a  winning 
naivete.  This  made  him  most  acceptable  as  a 
speaker  when  it  was  desirable  to  bring  American 
audiences  in  touch  with  an  informed  foreigner 
whose  experiences  and  observation  fitted  him  to 
provide  them  with  information.  He  was  recog- 
nized as  a  leader  by  the  Slavs  of  the  section  in 
which  he  lived  and  appeared  to  be  as  busy  in  help- 
ing them  unravel  their  difficulties  as  he  was  in 
assisting  welfare  workers  to  handle  their  own 
particular  problem. 

Enabled  through  his  good  offices  to  come  to  a 
better  understanding  of  a  situation  which  I  had 
found  extremely  perplexing,  I  encouraged  the 
advances  which  made  it  possible  for  him  to  interest 
me  in  his  personal  career.  Small  loans  of  money 
for  his  accommodation  followed,  the  process  con- 
tinuing until  a  series  of  happenings  developed  the 
fact  that  my  foreign  friend  was  involved  in  various 
matters  which  were  very  much  to  his  discredit,  and 
that  he  had  little  sense  of  honor.  I  remember  the 
chagrin  with  which  I  learned  that  one  who  was  so 
entirely  prepossessing  was  untrustworthy  and 
therefore  unworthy  of  the  confidence  which  had 
been  bestowed  upon  him. 

Almost  coincident  with  this  experience  came 
another  which  was  less  aggravating  but  which  in 
itself  was  exceedingly  instructive.  An  Austrian 
man  of  good  appearance  and  who  not  only  spoke 
English  like  a  native  but  was  the  master  of  vari- 


Corrupt  Agents  229 

ous  languages,  came  to  me  from  people  of  impor- 
tance to  solicit  assistance  in  matters  which  he 
was  undertaking  for  the  relief  of  his  own  people. 
He  had  been  in  the  employ  of  a  steamship  agency 
and  was  not  only  in  a  position  to  provide  data 
which  made  it  possible  to  stop  certain  vicious  prac- 
tices which  were  being  investigated,  but  was  a  mine 
of  information  in  regard  to  the  tricks  and  machina- 
tions in  vogue  among  exploiters  who  made  a 
business  of  fleecing  the  immigrant. 

Among  other  confidences,  however,  while  pos- 
ing as  a  penitent,  he  told  stories  of  his  past  life 
with  a  frankness  which  he  presumably  thought 
would  care  for  any  attack  which  might  be  made 
upon  his  record  but  which  had  the  effect  of  fore- 
warning his  interrogators. 

I  recall  that  he  set  out  in  a  very  picturesque 
way  the  low  grade  morals  which  exist  among  the 
business  men  of  a  certain  sort  in  the  European 
section  from  which  he  came,  and  the  manner  in 
which  public  officials  on  the  other  side  of  the  water 
are  inclined  to  scalp  a  profit  from  every  transaction 
in  which  they  are  involved. 

It  appeared  that  he  was  in  a  special  position  to 
give  evidence  in  regard  to  malfeasances  because 
of  the  manner  in  which  he  had  participated,  al- 
though he  now  held  himself  out  to  be  a  reformed 
man.  This  fact,  together  with  ingenuous  reasons 
for  deserting  a  wife  and  family  in  the  old  country, 
made  it  quite  impossible  for  me  to  show  him  the 


230  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

confidence  to  which  he  felt  he  was  entitled.  Mean- 
while, it  gave  me  an  opportunity  to  watch  the 
movements  of  one  who  shortly  proved  himself  to 
be  an  intriguer. 

Failing  in  his  endeavor  to  push  through  the 
enterprise  for  which  he  had  been  soliciting  aid  in 
the  city  of  Boston,  this  man  disappeared  from 
view  for  a  time,  but  shortly  turned  up  as  an  agent 
of  a  group  that  was  active  in  the  Connecticut 
Valley  where  many  Polish  families  are  domiciled. 

The  line  of  business  which  engaged  his  attention 
in  that  section  was,  as  is  true  of  many  of  the  opera- 
tions of  the  exploiting  foreigner,  novel  and  quite 
outside  of  the  experience  of  the  average  American. 

Conscious  of  the  fact  that  a  large  number  of  the 
young  men  who  at  that  time  were  coming  into  the 
country  from  the  military  states  of  Europe  had 
emigrated  for  the  sole  purpose  of  securing  military 
exemption  and  were  unhappy  because  of  the  self- 
enforced  separation  from  their  families,  he  and 
his  associates  arranged  to  turn  this  situation  to 
profit.  Accordingly  they  prepared  attractive  ad- 
vertisements which,  without  betraying  the  mach- 
inators  brought  to  the  attention  of  a  desired 
clientele  the  readiness  of  the  office  through  which 
they  worked  to  assist  young  men  to  secure  mili- 
tary exemption.  To  an  American  the  whole 
proposition  would  have  appeared  preposterous, 
simply  because  he  would  not  have  known  the 
peculiar  conditions  existing  in  certain  public  de- 


Corrupt  Agents  231 

partments  in  Europe.  (It  may  be  well  to  interject 
at  this  point  the  query  whether  or  not  ignorance 
in  regard  to  basic  conditions  which  shape  the  mo- 
tives and  movements  of  foreigners  is  not  responsi- 
ble for  the  way  in  which  our  people  blunder  in  all 
matters  which  affect  the  alien.)  To  the  foreigner 
the  scheme  was  not  without  merit  and  entirely 
practicable.  If  he  needed  services  of  the  adver- 
tisers and  was  willing  to  pay  their  price  for  offered 
accommodation,  he  knew  that  as  far  as  foreign 
government  bureaus  were  concerned  a  way  could 
be  found  to  carry  out  any  practicable  proposition. 
What  he  failed  to  take  into  consideration  was  the 
fact  that  however  corrupt  bureau  agents  might  be 
and  however  willing  to  earn  a  little  money  at  the 
cost  of  the  home  government  they  were  generally 
shrewd  enough  to  avoid  a  part  in  any  enterprise 
which  would  be  likely  to  expose  them  to  punish- 
ment of  the  severest  sort. 

If  the  candidate  for  extortion  had  thought  the 
matter  through  far  enough  to  give  such  facts  the 
attention  they  deserved,  he  would  probably  have 
gone  farther  and  questioned  the  value  of  any  ex- 
emption certificate  which  must  in  the  nature  of 
things  be  under  constant  inspection  by  inquisitive 
and  sometimes  honest  functionaries. 

The  dealers  in  this  curious  sort  of  merchandise 
perfectly  understood  the  pyschology  of  their  vic- 
tims and  possessed  an  intimate  understanding  of 
their  limitations.  They  therefore  set  out  in  a 


232  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

specious  manner  that  while  the  service  they  were 
performing  was  a  difficult  one,  it  would  be  made 
possible  by  the  cooperation  of  friends  in  Europe, 
whose  importance  and  connection  with  the  highest 
authorities  assured  the  recipient  of  the  certificate 
against  molestation.  They  offered  in  return  for  a 
comparatively  small  fee  of  two  or  three  hundred 
dollars  to  secure  a  review  of  the  applicant's  record 
if  this  was  necessary,  and  to  personally  supervise 
every  step  that  would  be  necessary  to  make  him 
immune,  as  far  as  military  service  was  con- 
cerned. 

Just  how  large  the  response  to  their  overtures 
was  is  unknown.  Certain  it  is  that  they  were  suf- 
ficiently successful  in  the  Connecticut  Valley  to 
make  the  matter  a  public  scandal  and  perma- 
nently smirch  the  character  of  all  those  who  had 
taken  part  in  the  fraud. 

This  line  of  activity  being  summarily  cut  off  my 
whilom  interviewer  became  the  confidential  agent 
of  banking  enterprises  which  were  without  repute, 
until  he  had  worked  enough  mischief  to  secure 
some  notoriety.  Inasmuch  as  this  blocked  the 
plans  of  those  whose  designs  required  a  character 
for  probity  he  disappeared  from  the  field  which 
had  had  his  principal  attention  to  presently  appear 
as  the  steward  or  fiscal  agent  of  a  coterie  which 
had  bought  up  the  right  to  furnish  immigrants  just 
entering  port  with  whatever  they  needed  in  the 
way  of  victuals  and  sustenance — a  public  service 


Corrupt  Agents  233 

which  enabled  them  to  make  exorbitant  charges 
and  reap  a  substantial  revenue. 

The  reader  will  readily  appreciate  how  ac- 
quaintance with  a  character — popular  among  wel- 
fare workers — like  the  one  which  has  been  just 
described,  formed  as  it  was  during  the  period  in 
which  I  was  awaking  to  the  true  character  of  the 
little  Russian  of  Y.  M.  C.  A.  connections,  was  of 
educative  value. 

Since  those  days  I  regret  to  say  that  I  have  had 
many  experiences  with  such  intriguers  and  have 
been  almost  constantly  in  a  position  to  know  the 
manner  in  which  the  confidence  of  philanthropic 
societies,  individuals,  and  even  government  de- 
partments has  been  abused  by  them.  While  it 
would  take  a  volume  to  review  these  experiences  I 
shall  narrate  one  which  beautifully  illustrates  the 
versatility  of  the  conscienceless  foreigner  and  his 
ability  to  play  many  parts. 

In  the  winter  of I  was  invited  to  be  one  of 

a  large  circle  entertained  at  dinner  by  an  eminent 
philanthropist.  Among  those  present  were  gentle- 
men of  high  standing  in  commercial  circles  and 
distinguished  by  public  service. 

The  matter  which  was  brought  to  our  attention 
had  to  do  with  the  betterment  of  newcomers  to  the 
United  States  and  the  guests  were  privileged  to 
listen  to  several  eloquent  appeals  from  men  of 
talent  who  had  had  long  experience  in  winning 
the  sympathy  of  an  audience. 


234  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

After  these  had  spoken  a  young  Lithuanian  was 
introduced  as  a  fair  representative  of  the  ambitious 
class  of  immigrants  who  were  endeavoring  to 
better  themselves  and  were  not  unmindful  of  the 
needs  of  their  people. 

Up  to  that  time  I  do  not  think  I  had  ever  lis- 
tened to  a  more  successful  appeal  than  was  made  by 
this  speaker.  Although  a  mere  boy  and  only 
partially  trained  as  a  college  undergraduate  the  man 
at  once  showed  himself  to  be  an  orator  of  surpris- 
ing ability.  He  was  impassioned  but  knew  how  to 
avoid  any  excess  which  might  be  ascribed  to 
temperament.  He  was  clear,  logical,  convincing, 
careful  of  his  facts,  and  fully  conscious  that  he 
was  addressing  men  of  affairs  who  had  wide  ex- 
perience  and  would  be  impatient  with  platitudes. 
Although  he  was  speaking  for  some  time  there 
was  no  one  at  the  table  who  was  not  surprised  and 
disappointed  when  he  finished.  The  applause 
that  followed  his  address  was  prolonged  and 
honest,  bringing  him  again  and  again  to  his  feet. 
I  recall  that  the  gentleman  to  whom  I  sat  next, 
the  president  of  a  corporation  employing  many 
thousands  of  operatives,  turned  to  me  with  the 
remark  that  the  boy  would  go  far  and  have  few 
peers.  This  I  think  was  the  concensus  of  opinion. 
Since  the  date  adverted  to  the  extraordinary  char- 
acter who  registered  so  effectively  thereupon  has 
been  constantly  before  public  audiences  of  all 
sorts  and  kinds  and  never  fails  to  make  an  impres- 


Corrupt  Agents  235 

sion  where  he  is  unknown.  Meantime,  if  evidence 
which  is  cumulative  can  be  relied  upon,  he  has 
consistently  betrayed  every  confidence  that  has 
been  reposed  in  him.  Hardly  had  the  echoes  of 
the  after-dinner  speaking  above  referred  to  died 
away,  when  the  president  of  a  prominent  Lithuan- 
ian society  put  into  my  hands  a  typewritten  state- 
ment containing  fifty  or  sixty  pages  which  brought 
the  record  of  this  surprising  youth  up  to  the  day  of 
presentation.  While  I  then  hesitated  to  believe 
that  the  boy  had  committed  all  the  alleged  mis- 
feasances which  were  therein  laid  at  his  door  and 
still  doubt  their  entire  reliability,  later  and  better 
acquaintance  with  him  has  led  me  to  conclude 
that  no  sense  of  honor  would  prevent  him  from 
committing  any  breach  of  faith. 

The  story  as  presented  in  this  manuscript  intro- 
duced the  youth  as  a  protege  of  a  priest  in  Pitts- 
burg  who  cared  for  his  education,  saw  to  it  that  he 
was  grounded  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  watched  over  his  welfare  with  zealous 
care,  until  he  learned  that  his  pupil  notwithstand- 
ing an  expressed  affection  for  and  attendance 
upon  the  services  of  the  Church  in  which  he  had 
been  trained  was  spending  many  of  his  evenings  in 
work  for  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Here  it  was  learned 
that  he  was  testing  his  elocutionary  powers  by 
calling  upon  groups  to  whom  he  was  sent  to  scruti- 
nize and  reject  the  principles  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
communion.  There  was  no  suspicion  or  sugges- 


236  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

tion  that  his  employers  knew  of  his  double  dealing 
or  suspected  that  he  was  other  than  a  self -con- 
vinced convert  to  the  Protestant  religion.  Such 
were  the  beginnings  of  a  course  in  duplicity  which 
fairly  stagger  the  American  with  a  regard  for 
truth  because  it  not  only  displays  extraordinary 
viciousness  but  discloses  a  field  for  operation  far 
more  extensive  than  one  unacquainted  with  condi- 
tions affecting  our  foreign  population  can  imagine. 
While  the  memory  readily  places  these  as  ini- 
tial events  in  this  strange  career,  subsequent 
happenings  are  more  or  less  confused  in  my  mind. 
I  know  that  at  one  juncture  he  was  under  arrest 
for  serious  misdemeanor — that  he  was  charged  in 
that  connection  with  perjury.  I  know  also  that 
in  due  course  he  aroused  the  righteous  indignation 
of  various  religious  societies  with  which  he  main- 
tained a  certain  fellowship,  because  of  his  relations 
with  socialist  groups  and  with  advanced  anarchist 
thinkers.  One  fails  to  understand  how  he  could 
have  maintained  the  different  parts  in  which  he 
masqueraded.  Now  he  is  the  darling  of  important 
coteries  among  the  Lithuanians.  Again  he  is  rep- 
resenting prominent  societies  and  holding  high 
office  by  their  franchise.  But  hardly  has  he 
reached  a  point  of  high  responsibility  before  he 
becomes  discredited  and  an  outcast  from  racial 
groups  with  which  he  has  been  allied.  All  this 
time  he  is  developing  his  powers  for  intrigue,  mas- 
tering language,  and  becoming  an  adept  in  its  use. 


Corrupt  Agents  237 

As  such  he  is  much  in  request  at  meetings  of  pro- 
test held  under  the  auspices  of  the  enemies  of  law 
and  order.  He  is  a  revolutionist,  an  agitator,  an 
enemy  of  society,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  he  does 
not  hesitate  when  opportunity  offers  to  appear  as 
the  representative  of  social  workers  or  to  address 
church  audiences  who  have  heard  of  his  eloquence. 
He  assures  these  latter  that  he  is  himself  a  con- 
servative, and  is  working  hard  to  outflank  the 
Lithuanian  group  which  is  known  to  be  socialistic 
in  philosophy. 

I  have  said  that  the  narrative  thus  brought  to 
my  attention  was  accepted  with  a  grain  of  salt. 
I  knew  that  feeling  runs  high  among  various 
cliques  which  strive  for  mastery  of  the  innumerable 
societies  which  hold  together  our  foreign  popula- 
tion. While  this  material  came  to  me  from  the 
hands  of  one  for  whom  I  have  high  regard,  it  was 
difficult  to  accept  the  extraordinary  tale  without 
a  feeling  that  it  might  contain  fabrications  in- 
vented by  an  enemy.  This  was  because  I  did  not 
know  my  man.  Since  then  doings  of  the  subject 
of  this  attack  have  been  recurrently  coming  to  my 
attention,  and  I  now  know  that  there  is  no  ques- 
tion but  that  whether  or  not  he  was  then  treated 
unjustly  he  is  capable  of  the  extravagances  charged 
against  him.  No  one  I  think  requires  closer  watch- 
ing in  these  days  when  Soviet  propaganda  is  in- 
flaming the  minds  of  the  populace,  than  this 
educated  Lithuanian. 


238  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

It  is  a  regrettable  fact  that  any  one  who  has 
much  to  do  with  alien  peoples  in  America  could 
continue  to  cite  instances  in  which  agents  used  by 
American  societies  and  workers  as  intermediaries 
in  uplift  work  have  abused  their  confidence. 
Those  given  above  should  be  sufficient  to  acquaint 
the  reader  with  a  situation  which  is  altogether  de- 
plorable, but  which  must  be  taken  into  considera- 
tion if  we  are  to  visualize  the  difficulties  which 
block  well-meaning  efforts  in  assimilating  or  han- 
dling the  non-English-speaking  people  of  this 
country. 

The  inquirer  who  seeks  to  inform  himself  in 
regard  to  points  of  contact  between  the  American 
and  the  alien  is  not  long  in  finding  first — how 
exceedingly  difficult  it  is  to  find  responsible  for- 
eigners who  also  have  the  qualities  which  make 
it  possible  for  them  to  render  service  as  agents; 
second — that  a  great  number  of  the  people  ac- 
tually employed  by  the  churches,  by  settlement 
houses,  by  the  authorities,  and  by  societies  working 
toward  corrective  ends  are  unacceptable  to  the 
groups  among  which  they  are  supposed  to  work, 
and  third — that  a  large  proportion  of  volunteers 
who  are  at  their  disposal  have  had  a  rare  training 
in  duplicity  if  they  have  not  actually  been  par- 
ticipants in  schemes  which  are  operated  to  de- 
fraud the  immigrant. 

Such  an  inquirer  will  be  disturbed  by  the  lack 
of  material,  amazed  at  the  use  of  foreigners  who 


Corrupt  Agents  239 

are  persona  non  grata  among  their  own  people, 
and  alarmed  when  he  notes  the  insidious  way  in 
which  corrupt  individuals  are  working  into  posi- 
tions of  responsibility.  Meantime  he  and  we  have 
to  do  with  grim  realities,  and  it  is  unfortunate 
that  as  a  people  we  are  doing  nothing  to  train 
responsible  agents  who  can  speak  other  languages 
than  English. 

This  is  the  only  way  out  of  an  exceedingly  diffi- 
cult position.  As  a  Nation  we  decline  to  take  it, 
being  satisfied  on  the  one  hand  to  use  men  whose 
religious  prejudices  or  whose  record  as  agents  of 
the  police  authorities  bar  them  from  intercourse 
with  the  race  from  which  they  spring,  or  on  the 
other  hand  to  permit  ourselves  to  be  fooled  and 
cajoled  by  persons  who  would  gladly  lead  us  to 
ruin. 

Is  it  not  difficult  to  avoid  the  extraordinary 
conclusion  that  we  are  both  willing  to  be  led  astray, 
and  to  foster  agencies  for  our  undoing? 


CHAPTER  VII 

NATURALIZATION 

IMMENSE  mischief  is  being  done  in  the  United 
*  States  by  unwise  naturalization. 

If  our  boasted  educational  system  were  worth 
anything,  it  would  have  produced  sufficient  in- 
telligence in  the  electorate  to  provide  for  its  own 
perpetuity.  Far  from  doing  this  it  has  developed 
an  inclination  to  solve  difficulties  by  temporary 
expedients  which  enhance  rather  than  diminish 
the  Nation's  embarrassment. 

No  better  instance  of  its  foolhardiness  can  be 
cited  than  is  furnished  by  the  impulse  given  to  the 
naturalization  of  strangers  by  the  authorities  at 
Washington  and  by  mistaken  coteries  in  every 
part  of  the  Republic. 

This  not  only  smacks  of  national  ignorance  regard- 
ing the  laws  of  cause  and  effect — it  hints  at  a  lack 
of  judgment. 

I  have  referred  to  the  internal  complications 
which  greed,  jealousy,  and  the  deadly  sins  to 
which  flesh  is  heir  have  sowed  broadly  through 
the  country.  It  must  be  obvious  to  all  that  these 

240 


Naturalization  241 

problems  are  so  nearly  inextricable  as  to  have  con- 
fused the  most  sagacious  leaders  that  are  available. 

Even  the  half-witted  might  be  supposed  at  such 
a  juncture  to  avoid  new  perplexities  and  to  mark 
time  until  a  way  out  appeared.  Not  so  the  Ameri- 
can people !  With  a  half -savage  but  voting  negro 
population  in  the  South — with  a  third  of  their  ex- 
isting personnel  still  unassimilated — and  with  a 
foreign  invasion  flooding  the  land — they  fairly 
court  new  political  dilemmas.  One  of  these  has  been 
the  extension  of  the  suffrage  without  taking  care 
in  justice  to  the  recipient  or  themselves  to  accom- 
pany the  same  with  primary  instruction. 

A  greater  and  most  heinous  offense  has  been  the 
invitation  to  aliens  to  join  the  electorate;  an 
invitation  which  I  regret  to  say  has  not  infre- 
quently been  accompanied  by  a  kick  into  forced 
citizenship. 

If  this  is  not  national  wickedness  it  nearly  quali- 
fies as  such.  Centuries  have  passed  since  Jesus 
said — "It  is  not  meet  to  take  the  children's 
bread  and  to  cast  it  to  dogs,"  and  the  world 
generally  concedes  this  truism.  Notwithstand- 
ing this  fact  great  multitudes  of  people  in  this 
country  appear  eager  not  only  to  wreck  the  future 
of  their  own  children,  but  to  blast  the  hopes  of 
men  and  women  born  in  other  lands  who  reverence 
our  principles  and  desire  to  cast  in  their  lot  with  us. 

So  atrocious  is  this  betrayal  of  trust  that  one 
recoils  from  the  recitation.  The  American  de- 

16 


242  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

mocracy  through  its  Constitution  and  Bill  of 
Rights  guarantees  life,  liberty,  property,  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness  to  its  members — strictly, 
because  of  the  inevitable  working  of  law, — on 
condition  that  they  maintain  every  requirement  of 
self-government . 

This  condition,  virile,  necessitous,  and  inexora- 
ble, shuts  out  the  base,  the  ignorant,  and  the  un- 
disciplined. 

Nowithstanding  these  truths  which  are  simple, 
and  readily  perceived,  and  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  mistaken  policies  will  automatically  place 
unsympathetic  strangers  in  control  of  our  homes 
and  shops,  we  continue  to  foul  our  own  nest  by 
urging  naturalization. 

That  this  is  imprudent  will  appear  from  any 
study  of  the  foreign  population  which  is  in  occu- 
pancy of  our  industrial  centers. 

Reference  to  the  returns  of  the  Federal  Immi- 
gration Bureau  shows  that  nearly  twice  as  many 
men  as  women  come  into  our  ports  in  any  normal 
year;  the  majority  of  these  men  have  received 
military  training,  and  if  admitted  to  citizenship 
before  their  worth  is  established,  may  be  expected 
to  become  a  dangerous  element  in  time  of  civil 
dissension. 

These  returns  further  show  that  the  greater  part 
of  immigrating  men  and  women  are  of  ages  which 
will  permit  them  to  qualify  for  citizenship  in  a 
short  period. 


Naturalization  243 

In  the  year  1914,  981,692  of  those  who  passed 
examination  at  the  docks  out  of  a  total  of  i  ,218,480 
were  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  forty-five. 

Such  data,  if  carefully  studied,  leads  us  inevita- 
bly to  the  conclusion  that  foreign-born  persons  of 
voting  age  now  in  the  industrial  sections  of  this 
country  far  outnumber  the  voters  of  native-born 
or  native  and  foreign  parentage.  It  is  true  all 
these  foreigners  have  not  yet  been  naturalized,  but 
it  is  not  the  fault  of  shallow-minded  Americans. 

To  this  number  every  normal  year  promises  to 
bring  a  greater  accession  of  strength  through  immi- 
gration to  the  foreign  group  than  can  possibly 
accrue  to  the  so-called  native  element,  which  is 
more  and  more  a  hybrid  quality  because  the  birth 
rate  among  citizens  of  foreign  or  mixed  parentage 
far  exceeds  that  among  citizens  of  full  native 
parentage. 

One  does  not  have  to  be  a  mathematician  to 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  will  require  very 
little  of  the  sort  of  pernicious  activity  now  so  prev- 
alent, to  put  that  part  of  the  electorate  which  is 
more  or  less  acquainted  with  the  traditions  of  the 
American  democracy  into  a  hopeless  minority. 

Why  then  this  enthusiasm  for  naturalization? 
Is  it  self-abnegation,  or  humanism?  Surely  not 
the  former,  our  conceit  would  not  permit  that. 
Probably  not  the  latter,  although  our  educational 
fallacies  make  this  explanation  reasonable. 

A  far  safer  answer,  and  one  that  can  be  sup- 


244  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

ported  by  facts  without  number,  has  been  already 
suggested.  Infinite  greed;  impatience  like  that 
ascribed  to  the  heathen  Gods  with  any  obstacle 
that  blocks  present  achievement,  and  a  colossal 
stupidity ! 

As  has  been  suggested,  the  average  American 
is  a  business  man,  with  a  business  man's  fondness 
for  immediate  profits .  Sometimes  he  masquerades 
in  academic  gown  and  sometimes  in  army  or  navy 
uniform,  but  generally  he  wears  business  clothes. 
He  votes  because  bad  business  legislation  may  re- 
trench his  earnings.  He  obeys  the  law  from  a  re- 
spect for  order,  and  he  fights  when  he  learns  that 
the  interest  of  the  country,  family,  or  his  goods 
require  him  to  fight.  He  loves  the  flag  and  has  a 
vague  idea  what  it  stands  for.  He  is  perhaps 
quicker  to  spring  to  its  defense  than  were  his  im- 
mediate forebears,  because  of  pride  in  its  glory,  but 
he  will  not  think  things  through  which  smack  of 
philosophy  or  which  are  less  tangible  than  dollars 
and  cents  or  authoritative  call  to  action. 

This  trend  of  mind  leads  to  superficialism  and  a 
disposition  to  base  conclusions  upon  insufficient 
facts.  Fortunately  he  has  sense  of  humor  enough 
to  recognize  that  this  is  stupid  just  as  he  knows 
that  he  is  often  greedy  and  impatient. 

Let  us  see  how  this  diagnosis  fits  the  status — 
looking  to  the  American  of  affairs — in  time  of 
peace  and  in  time  of  war — for  examples. 

There  is  not  a  factory  town  in  the  United  States 


Naturalization  245 

which  employs  unskilled  foreign  labor  but  which 
is  frequently  plagued  by  the  mobility  of  the  work- 
ing force  upon  which  it  depends.  In  times  of 
business  activity  there  is  a  shortage  of  labor. 
In  times  of  business  stagnation,  there  is  an  excess 
of  labor.  Meantime  whether  there  be  an  insuf- 
ficiency or  a  surplus  the  non-English  speaking  em- 
ployee refuses  to  assume  ordinary  responsibilities, 
and  is  generally  neglectful  of  other  interests  than 
those  that  concern  himself.  Thus,  when  the  man- 
agers of  big  and  little  business  believe  that  outside 
conditions  favor  their  making  some  substantial 
addition  to  their  earnings  they  find  that  foreign 
agitators  have  been  busy  among  their  people  en- 
gineering a  demand  for  increased  wage.  Strikes 
and  increased  costs  follow,  and  not  infrequently  a 
large  portion  of  the  employed  force  packs  up  and 
leaves  town  when  most  needed.  This  is  more  than 
amazing — it  is  irritating. 

Hard  as  such  conditions  are  to  bear  however, 
they  are  not  as  paralyzing  as  those  which  accom- 
pany bad  times.  These  find  corporation  heads  at 
wits  end  to  arrange  for  sufficient  work  to  return  a 
living  wage  to  the  thousands  of  people  dependent 
upon  them.  Hospitals  are  full,  bread  lines  are 
stringing  the  streets  with  their  long  queues  and  all 
sorts  of  welfare  relief  is  being  planned,  but  do 
what  the  employers  may,  the  foreign  mass  is  dull, 
non-cooperative,  helpless,  with  a  disposition  to 
turn  to  the  agitator  for  assistance.  They  have 


246  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

had  good  wages  in  the  past  and  have  spent  them 
ineffectually  or  forwarded  gold  to  Europe.  They 
have  no  interest  in  the  mills  or  the  community  in 
which  they  live,  and  they  yet  demand  that  they  be 
clothed,  fed,  and  housed.  If  their  demands  are 
not  satisfied,  they  threaten. 

To  say  that  such  experiences  are  trying,  is  to  put 
it  mildly.  Frequently  they  are  maddening.  It 
follows  that  the  business  man  seeks  for  a  remedy. 

This  lies  in  curtailment;  in  restricted  output; 
in  a  return  to  small  things;  but  conscious  that  his 
adoption  of  what  seems  an  ultra-conservative 
policy  may  be  rendered  ineffective  by  the  lack  of 
cooperation  on  the  part  of  other  industrial  leaders, 
and  trained  to  be  aggressive  rather  than  prudent, 
this  course  is  rejected  as  impracticable. 

In  so  doing  the  American  capitalist  makes  a 
mistake.  Probably  those  of  us  who  criticize 
would  do  the  same  thing  if  we  were  in  his  place, 
especially  if  we  were  not  altogether  responsible 
for  the  complications  in  which  we  are  involved. 
It  is  always  easier  to  point  out  the  way  than  to 
follow  in  the  safe  path. 

Something  must  be  done,  however,  and  having 
decided  to  hold  his  ground,  the  manufacturer  must 
find  a  way  out.  It  is  in  this  temper  that  the 
man  who  is  insufficiently  informed  in  regard  to 
political  principles  has  turned  to  naturalization 
as  a  means  of  stabilizing  his  foreign  labor,  bring- 
ing it  more  directly  under  domestic  law,  perhaps 


Naturalization  247 

waking  a  dormant  sentiment  of  patriotism,  and 
making  it  a  participant  in  community  problems. 

Of  course  this  is  like  jumping  from  the  frying 
pan  into  the  fire !  but  the  tortured  victim  does  not 
realize  it.  Bothered  already  by  unwise  state 
legislation,  and  nagging  municipal  ordinances 
which  reflect  the  will  of  a  somewhat  hostile  elec- 
torate, he  arranges  so  that  the  majorities  in  favor 
of  schemes  which  he  deprecates  shall  be  doubled 
if  not  trebled. 

Apprehensive  as  to  the  future  of  his  vested  in- 
terests because  he  knows  of  the  influence  which 
the  proletarian  leader  has  over  his  employees, 
he  makes  it  possible  for  revolutionary  labor 
to  do  lawfully  through  the  ballot  that  which 
it  could  not  do  otherwise  without  defiance  of 
law. 

In  all  this  the  manufacturer  is  of  course  hope- 
lessly foolish  and  not  unlike  the  hypothetical  case 
of  a  man  who  saves  a  would-be  incendiary  from 
troublesome  activity  by  setting  fire  to  his  own 
house.  The  extraordinary  thing  about  the  whole 
matter  is  that  he  is  so  blind  as  not  to  recognize  his 
fatuity.  I  have  endeavored  to  partially  explain 
this  by  noting  the  involved  character  of  the  prob- 
lem and  the  disposition  of  the  American  business 
man  to  adopt  measures  which  come  to  his  attention 
through  respectable  channels  without  proper  study 
or  consideration.  It  is  proper  now  to  give  an  in- 
stance of  the  sort  of  influence  which  has  advocated 


248  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

forced  naturalization.  I  therefore  quote  in  part 
from  a  letter  dated  January  14,  1921,  which  bears 
the  printed  signature  of  one  of  the  leading  Cham- 
bers of  Commerce  in  the  United  States,  and  which 
in  its  matter  is  not  particularly  different  from 
similar  literature  which,  sometimes  endorsed  by 
government  agencies,  sometimes  by  Boards  of 
Trade  and  other  so-called  business  aggregations, 
has  for  some  years  been  widely  distributed  through 
the  country. 

The  particular  communication  referred  to,  after 
stating  that  America  is  the  melting  pot  of  the 
world,  intimating  that  the  vast  majority  who  enter 
our  ports  accept  American  principles  and  lead  in- 
dustrious and  thrifty  lives,  and  suggesting  that 
their  example  should  be  followed  by  those  yet  to 
come  and  now  in  the  country  who  are  not  citizens — 
goes  on  to  say : 

With  all  the  opportunities  for  free  education  and 
with  the  many  agencies  for  aiding  in  Americanizing 
the  newcomers,  it  would  seem  that  practically  none 
would  hesitate  to  claim  the  citizenship  which  the 
United  States  offers  to  all  who  are  worthy.  That 
there  is  a  substantial  number,  who  have  not  availed 
themselves  of  this  privilege,  cannot  be  denied.  To 
impress  upon  this  class  the  vital  necessity  of  becoming 
Americans  as  promptly  as  possible  seems  a  duty  which 
the  business  man  in  every  line  should  accept  as  a 
patriotic  responsibility. 

Believing  in  the  general  principles  herewith  set 


Naturalization  249 

forth  the  Directors  of  the Chamber  of 

Commerce  recently  voted  that  every  employing  mem- 
ber be  asked  to  urge  upon  those  in  their  employ  and 
those  who  may  seek  employment,  the  immediate  de- 
sirability of  becoming  American  citizens  and  to  make 
citizenship,  either  actual  or  prospective,  an  essential 
requirement.  We  are,  therefore,  bringing  this  matter 
to  your  attention,  as  an  employer,  with  the  confident 
expectation  that  you  will,  through  the  proper  channels 
of  your  concern,  make  known  your  attitude  to  such 
of  your  employees,  or  those  seeking  employment, 
as  have  not  qualified  as  citizens,  or  manifested 
disposition  to  do  so. 

Let  us  imagine  this  document  on  the  desk  before 
the  bewildered  employer.  He  is  too  much  oc- 
cupied to  note  that  its  premises  are  untrue  and 
that  its  reasoning  is  bad.  The  outstanding  note 
calls  for  a  naturalization  of  labor,  and  the  counsel 
appears  to  come  from  a  committee  which  has  the 
confidence  of  his  business  associates.  This  may 
be  true,  and  may  not  be  true.  More  probably  it 
emanates  from  some  social  worker  who  is  supposed 
to  be  an  expert,  but  who  as  a  matter  of  fact  knows 
nothing  of  business,  and  little  of  political  science. 
However  this  may  be,  it  is  authoritative  and  looks 
interesting.  The  recipient  turns  it  over  to  some 
member  of  his  staff — perhaps  a  budding  sociologist 
who  is  engaged  to  keep  him  up  with  the  times 
— for  endorsement,  and  when  this  is  returned, 
issues  an  order  which  states  that  employees 


250  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

who  do  not  qualify  for  citizenship  will  not  be  needed 
after  a  given  date. 

So  much  for  a  particular  instance  of  the  manner 
in  which  destructive  forces  are  set  in  operation 
during  times  of  peace  by  a  good  American  who 
acts  on  insufficient  data.  Although  it  is  hypotheti- 
cal, the  informed  reader  will  probably  recall  an 
actual  instance  that  has  come  within  his  own 
observation.  There  are  thousands  of  such ! 

Let  us  now  see  how  the  American  soldier  has 
recently  handled  the  same  problem. 

In  the  second  Report  made  by  the  Provost 
Marshal  General  to  the  Secretary  of  War  (printed 
1919),  the  Provost  Marshal  General,  after  noting 
the  particular  devotion  shown  by  many  soldiers 
of  foreign  lineage,  says  (page  86) : 

On  the  other  hand,  not  the  least  valuable  of  the 
lessons  of  the  draft  is  its  disclosure  that  to-day  there 
are  certain  portions  of  our  population  which  either 
will  not  or  cannot  unite  in  ideals  with  the  rest.  We 
have  welcomed  to  our  shore  many  who  should  be  for- 
ever denied  the  right  of  American  citizenship.  The 
operation  of  the  draft  in  respect  to  aliens  is  a  great 
object  lesson  for  the  American  people.  While  many 
declarant  aliens  completed  their  citizenship  after  they 
had  been  inducted  into  the  service,  and  fought  loyally 
under  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  yet  many  others  refused 
to  do  so  and  were  discharged  under  the  order  of 
April  n,  1918.  Furthermore,  thousands  of  non-de- 
clarant aliens  claimed  and  received  exemption;  and 


Naturalization  251 

thousands  of  others  who  had  failed  to  claim  exemp- 
tion sought  and  obtained  their  discharge  from  the 
service  after  they  had  been  duly  inducted.  Many  of 
these  friendly  and  neutral  aliens,  who  refused  to  aid 
their  adopted  country  in  time  of  need,  had  made  the 
United  States  their  home  for  many  years,  had  ac- 
quired a  comfortable  livelihood,  and  had  enjoyed  to  the 
fullest  extent  the  benefits  and  protection  of  our 
country.  But  while  millions  of  American  boys  left 
their  homes  gladly,  and  all  that  home  means,  to  fight 
for  high  ideals,  and  the  preservation  of  all  that  is  near 
and  dear  to  a  patriot,  these  men  deliberately  refused 
to  make  the  sacrifice. 

Having  thus  succinctly  described  a  situation 
with  which  his  office  and  the  thousands  of  local 
boards  cooperating  with  it  were  familiar,  the  dis- 
tinguished officer  in  question  proceeds  to  point  out 
various  problems  of  the  draft  which  arose  from 
the  presence  in  this  country  of  a  large  foreign  popu- 
lation. 

Of  these  none  appear  to  have  been  more  difficult 
to  solve  than  that  which  eventuated  from  the  fact 
that  thousands  of  non-declarant  aliens  were  serv- 
ing in  the  United  States  armies  who  either  claimed, 
or  had  a  right  to  claim,  that  their  induction  was 
illegal,  and  that  other  thousands  such  as  the  Jugo- 
Slavs  and  Czecho-Slovaks,  who  desired  to  rid  them- 
selves of  Austrian  or  other  allegiance,  were  also 
violating  precedent  by  serving  under  our  colors 
either  in  the  regular  forces  or  else  in  the  foreign 


252  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

legion.  It  did  not  follow  that  these  last  were  at- 
tached to  the  United  States  because  they  were 
ready  to  fight  their  mother  country.  What  most 
of  them  desired  was  full  recognition  of  sovereignty 
for  the  districts  from  which  they  hailed.  Mean- 
time their  presence  with  the  flag  was  something  to 
be  explained. 

In  the  nature  of  things  these  foreign  groups  be- 
came a  matter  of  serious  embarrassment  to  camp 
commanders.  Some  could  speak  English,  and 
partially  voiced  complaints;  others  were  shut  off 
from  the  ordinary  avenues  of  communication  be- 
cause their  mother-tongue  was  Russian,  Italian, 
Polish,  or  any  one  of  a  hundred  dialects.  They 
were  frequently  sulky  and  insubordinate. 

To  add  to  the  complications  a  constant  drift  of 
letters  and  orders  came  to  each  Division  Head- 
quarters from  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  War  or 
through  proper  military  channels.  These  re- 
flected staff  opinions  or  threw  in  form  advices  from 
the  Departments  of  State  and  Justice  which  had 
to  do  with  the  representations  of  foreign  govern- 
ments, the  legal  status  of  individuals,  and  the 
consideration  to  be  given  non-English  speaking 
persons  protesting  induction,  etc.  The  orders 
were  not  infrequently  contradictory  and  difficult 
to  put  into  effect. 

It  was  therefore  a  matter  of  congratulation  and 
relief  when  Congress  under  date  of  May  9,  1918, 
enacted  amendments  to  the  naturalization  laws 


Naturalization  253 

which  removed  many  of  the  ' '  limitations  of  proce- 
dure and  time"  in  the  naturalization  of  aliens  in 
the  military  or  naval  service  of  the  United  States. 
In  the  language  of  the  Provost  Marshal  Gen- 
eral's report  its  effect  was— 

To  make  it  possible  for  an  alien  whether  a  declarant 
or  non-declarant  who  had  been  either  enlisted  or 
drafted  into  the  service  of  the  United  States  to  change 
his  status  into  that  of  a  full  citizen,  thus  enabling  him 
to  enter  without  the  handicap  imposed  upon  him  by 
his  foreign  nativity. 

It  also  opened  the  way  for  the  Camp  Commanders 
under  the  direction  of  the  Adjutant-General  of  the 
Army  to  encourage  naturalization  on  a  large  scale 
and  resulted  in  the  conversion  of  the  "Foreign 
Legion"  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States  into  a  host 
of  loyal  American  citizen-soldiers. 

By  this  act  the  number  of  those  military  persons 
as  to  whom  any  question  could  henceforth  be  raised, 
either  on  the  ground  of  their  proper  induction  as  non- 
declarant  aliens  or  on  the  ground  of  their  non-ability 
as  declarant  aliens  of  treaty  countries  or  of  neutral 
countries  was  substantially  diminished. 

To  the  General  Staff  receiving  reports  from  the 
various  camps,  as  to  the  civilian  observer,  the  ef- 
fect of  the  May  9,  1918,  law  therefore  seemed  salu- 
tary in  the  highest  degree.  Naturalization  offices 
were  crowded  with  business,  problems  were  being 
eliminated,  and  it  commenced  to  look  as  if  the 
officers  in  charge  of  training  our  armies  for  battle 


254  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

were  hereafter  to  be  relieved  from  the  anxieties 
and  dilemmas  arising  from  the  irregular  or  ques- 
tioned presence  in  camp  and  cantonment  of  great 
numbers  of  non-English  speaking  soldiers  with  an 
undefined  status. 

Unfortunately,  however,  there  is  another  side 
to  the  story  and  one  which  I  think  has  not  been 
told.  When  this  comes  out,  as  it  should  in  due 
time,  it  will  appear  that  the  law  of  May  9,  1918, 
was  used  not  only  by  inducted  aliens  as  an 
immediate  means  of  solving  personal  perplexities, 
but  that  it  became  a  club,  if  not  in  the  hand  of 
division  commanders,  then  in  the  hand  of  their 
subordinates,  to  force  naturalization. 

All  this  is  not  surprising  but  it  is  of  serious  im- 
port. Just  as  the  mill  superintendent,  accustomed 
to  handle  blocks  of  men  in  such  a  way  as  may 
serve  his  immediate  purpose,  grasped  and  pushed 
naturalization  machinery  in  order  to  secure,  retain, 
and  control  needed  labor,  so  the  soldier  with  a 
greater  need  and  a  higher  object  took  the  full 
advantage  of  the  military  naturalization  act  with- 
out giving  much  thought  to  the  ultimate  conse- 
quences. 

The  regular  army  is  a  splendid  school  for  dis- 
cipline. Men  trained  in  its  traditions  obey  their 
superiors  and  know  how  to  exact  obedience.  In 
the  summer  of  1918  the  men  responsible  for  the 
training  of  our  citizen-soldiery  were  veterans  in 
the  handling  of  raw  recruits  of  diverse  racial  con- 


Naturalization  255 

nections.  They  were  experts  in  turning  the  most 
unpromising  material  into  soldiers.  Before  the 
opening  of  the  War,  however,  their  experience 
had  been  with  single  individuals,  with  a  dozen, 
with  a  score  at  a  time  perhaps,  but  never  had 
they  known  nor  had  the  military  men  of  any  other 
establishment  known  what  it  was  to  handle  thou- 
sands, if  not  tens  of  thousands,  of  draftees  owing 
allegiance  to  forty  different  countries,  in  a  bunch. 
They  had  been  baffled  and  worried  beyond  ex- 
pression, and  had  borne  themselves  with  infinite 
credit  to  the  country — sending  trained  divisions 
across  seas  in  rapid  succession,  and  in  spite  of  dis- 
couragements and  entanglements  sifting  the  poly- 
got  material  in  their  hands  in  such  a  way  as  to 
produce  the  best  possible  effect.  To  such  the 
Naturalization  Act  was  a  godsend,  and  they  used 
it — some  of  them  with  wise  discretion,  others  with- 
out careful  thought  of  the  consequences,  but  all 
with  the  object  of  thereby  serving  the  country. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  in  this  chapter  to  make 
careful  inquiry  into  the  effects  of  the  law  of  1918. 
At  the  time  it  was  variously  interpreted — the  Fed- 
eral Naturalization  Office,  lax  in  recent  years,  re- 
porting that  it  covered  enemy  aliens,  and  the  Judge 
Advocate  General's  office  expressing  itself  with  less 
assurance. 

In  some  camps  it  was  welcomed  by  the  drafted 
men  as  the  probable  medium  through  which  an 
opportunity  to  visit  their  homeland  might  be  se- 


256  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

cured.  This  was  reported  to  be  the  attitude  of 
Italian  soldiers  who  furnished  70%  of  the  aliens 
naturalized  in  one  cantonment. 

In  other  camps  it  was  sharply  criticized,  being 
spoken  of  as  a  "commandeering  proposition " — the 
critics  throwing  the  burden  upon  non-commissioned 
officers  for  the  tactics  used  in  urging  or  forcing 
eligible  persons  to  accept  the  provisions  of  the  act. 

However  this  may  be,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that 
thousands  became  citizens  of  this  country  either 
by  compulsion  or  from  unworthy  motives,  and 
that  thousands  of  others  secured  the  franchise 
who  had  and  who  have  no  love  for  the  country. 
There  was  abundant  evidence  at  the  time.  There 
is  abundant  evidence  to-day.  Sometimes  it  forces 
itself  upon  attention  in  disloyal  demonstrations  of 
ex-service  men,  sometimes  in  the  stolid  and  un- 
patriotic manner  in  which  individuals  of  foreign 
lineage  who  served  with  the  colors  deport  them- 
selves in  the  discussions  of  questions  which  are  of 
vital  importance  to  their  fellow-citizens. 

Meantime  we  have  the  reports  of  the  Bureau  of 
Naturalization  to  show  that  155,246  draftees  were 
naturalized  between  May  8,  1918,  and  November 
30,  1918.  Anyone  who  gives  weight  to  this  very 
large  figure  and  knows  the  composition  of  the  alien 
element  which  was  inducted  into  the  service  as  a 
result  of  the  second  draft  must  realize  that  the 
law  of  May,  1918,  as  interpreted  and  made  to 
operate,  although  it  appeared  to  serve  a  tempo- 


Naturalization  257 

rary  purpose,  was  and  will  be  a  continuing  cause 
of  mischief. 

I  wish  it  were  possible  to  dismiss  the  question  of 
naturalization  with  the  foregoing  review  of  domi- 
nating influences.  To  do  so  would  leave  the  reader 
uninformed  in  regard  to  the  organized  movement 
to  encourage  it.  This  takes  its  head  in  federal 
officials  who  use  the  well-meant  but  unfortunate 
Americanization  and  similar  movements  to  se- 
cure their  ends,  and  who  in  the  probable  belief 
that  they  are  doing  God's  service  endeavor  to 
direct  the  machinery  they  control  into  media  for 
naturalization. 

Reference  to  their  reports  indicates  that  since 
1907  there  have  been  more  applicants  for  naturali- 
zation in  each  year  than  there  have  been  incoming 
immigrants  in  the  same  year. x 

This  seems  to  the  Commissioner  of  Naturali- 
zation to  be  a  cause  for  congratulation,  but  inas- 
much as  nothing  other  than  the  vaguest  language 
is  used  to  describe  the  character  of  the  applicants, 
it  may  be  an  even  greater  cause  for  apprehension. 
Nothing  better  illustrates  the  fact  that  the  educa- 
tive forces  of  the  country,  as  has  been  argued 
elsewhere,  are  apt  to  take  one  angle  of  view  in  re- 
gard to  our  American  citizenship,  while  the  every- 
day citizen  who  prizes  his  constitutional  liberty 
takes  another.  The  former,  somewhat  inclined 
toward  internationalism,  feel  that  every  accession 

1  1914  report,  page  43. 

17 


258  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

to  citizenship  of  a  person  who  knows  how  to  con- 
duct himself  with  certain  sobriety  is  a  matter  of 
congratulation.  The  latter  is  not  prepared  to  move 
so  fast,  noting  that  the  timbers  of  the  Republic  are 
under  a  strain  which  comes  alternately  from  within 
and  without.  He  wishes  to  feel  his  way  more 
carefully. 

Much  that  our  Federal  Bureaus  are  doing  in  the 
way  of  encouraging  the  teaching  of  English  and 
primary  civics  is  excellent.  Meanwhile  there  are 
a  good  many  Americans  who,  after  providing  for 
this  sort  of  instruction  for  adult  immigrants, 
would  rest  satisfied.  These  latter  make  the  per- 
tinent inquiry — What  object  is  there  in  increasing 
the  number  of  units  in  the  electorate?  An  in- 
crease in  our  citizenship  is  not  going  to  help  us  to 
decide  the  colossal  problems  which  are  now  before 
the  Republic.  Is  it  not  enough  for  us  to  keep 
avenues  of  citizenship  open  to  those  who  are  un- 
questionably worthy,  and  dismiss  the  notion  that 
we  can  make  men  virtuous  democrats  by  providing 
them  with  the  franchise  ? 

According  to  a  recent  report  of  the  Commissioner 
of  Naturalization,  the  latter  thinks  not.  Under 
date  of  1919  that  official  says — 

The  field  of  the  Bureau  has  extended  beyond  the 
narrow  original  confines  where  it  concerned  itself  with 
the  alien  only  after  he  had  declared  his  intention  to 
become  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  It  now  reaches 


Naturalization  259 

to  the  other  side  of  that  point  of  contact,  and  broadly 
speaking  is  in  contact  with  the  alien  at  every  point  of 
his  life  and  activities  in  this  country,  and,  as  it  should 
be,  aids  him  in  manifesting  his  desire  to  become 
naturalized.  The  limitation  upon  the  activities  or 
manifestations  of  activity  of  government  in  the  Re- 
publican form  are  to  be  measured  only  by  the  public 
mind.  There  can  be  no  artificial  or  prescribed 
boundary  line  between  authorized  government  and  its 
people.  Those  boundaries  will  be  what  the  people 
determine  them  to  be. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE   INTELLECTUALS 

AMONG  other  phenomena  which  accompany 
political  decadence  is  the  development  of  a 
michievous  criticism  which  rips  down  what  is  being 
constructed  with  effort,  makes  unhappy  com- 
parisons, and  records  itself  as  out  of  gear  with 
established  conditions.  It  encourages  political  in- 
stability, and  always  precedes  revolution. 

Mischievous  criticism  of  this  sort  is  rampant  in 
America,  and  cannot  wisely  be  overlooked  by  those 
who  are  loyal  to  democratic  institutions,  as  it  is 
sure  to  betray  confidence  in  time  of  stress,  if  it  is 
not  properly  gauged  beforehand. 

This  mischievous  criticism  is  characterized  by 
egoism  and  pride  of  intellect.  It  is  personified  in 
the  philosopher  with  a  contempt  for  facts — the  econ- 
omist who  knows  little  of  political  limitations — 
the  essayist  who  prefers  a  well-turned  phrase  to  a 
careful  bit  of  reasoning — the  specialist  who  keenly 
appreciates  that  he  is  living  in  a  period  which  spe- 
cializes and  must  put  on  blinders  if  he  expects  to 
secure  a  name  for  himself — the  politician  who  be- 

260 


The  Intellectuals  261 

lieves  that  sociology  provides  an  avenue  to  dis- 
tinction— and  the  narrow-minded  ones  among  the 
scholars  who  live  in  a  world  of  books.  Few  of  these 
are  people  of  affairs,  although  their  scribbling  pens 
and  wagging  tongues  concern  themselves  more 
with  industrial  and  political  problems  than  do  the 
agencies  of  those  who  are  bearing  the  heat  and  bur- 
den of  the  day. 

The  latter  individuals  are  busy  providing  the 
bread  and  butter  which  keeps  the  cynical  idealist 
alive,  and  providing  the  laws  which  give  him  se- 
curity. It  is  a  ludicrous  fact,  therefore,  that  when 
the  critical  publicist  talks  revolutionary  nonsense, 
which  is  his  constant  theme,  he  is  hacking  at  the 
base  of  the  pedestal  which  both  keeps  him  in  the 
public  view  and  arranges  for  his  maintenance. 

I  can  conceive  of  a  state  of  society  in  which  a 
reasonable  number  of  such  persons  who  are  known 
to  the  labor  element  as  Intellectuals,  might  be 
very  helpful  because  of  the  stimulating  effect  they 
would  have  upon  the  national  intelligence. 

Meantime  it  is  quite  probable,  and  there  seems 
to  be  advantage  in  discussing  the  fact,  that  the 
unlimited  number  of  these  eccentrics  in  the  United 
States,  taken  together  with  the  fact  that  they  write 
the  books  of  the  Nation,  control  its  periodical  liter- 
ature, and  furnish  its  lecture  platform,  are  making 
it  exceedingly  difficult  for  the  American  people  to 
continue  the  simple  program  marked  out  for  them 
by  earlier  generations. 


262  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

May  I  give  a  case  in  point  which  reflects  the 
sentiment  and  spirit  of  these  restless  searchers  for 
something  different  than  the  existing  order? 

Not  long  since  there  appeared  in  a  weekly  paper, 
subsidized  by  persons  of  wealth  who  are  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  intellectual  movement,  a  series  of 
articles  written  to  meet  the  objections  of  those 
revolutionaries  who  find  difficulty  in  thinking 
through  the  problems  which  beset  what  they  call 
industrial  democracy.  Only  twenty  years  ago  the 
fact  that  such  articles  could  be  published  at  all 
would  have  created  astonishment.  Inasmuch  as 
a  thousand  other  similar  bits  of  literature  (a  fact 
which  in  itself  seems  to  mark  decadence)  ap- 
peared in  different  parts  of  the  country  within  the 
same  weeks  during  which  these  contributions  were 
published,  it  cannot  be  said  that  there  is  now  any- 
thing surprising  in  their  appearance. 

The  author,  apparently  advised  of  the  fact  that 
Lenine  and  Trotzky  were  finding  grave  trouble  in 
conducting  the  manufacturing  plants  which  they 
had  so  ruthlessly  seized,  and  anxious  to  do  away 
with  the  hesitancy  of  those  in  this  country  who 
refrain  from  an  attempt  to  seize  all  private  prop- 
erty— not  on  moral  grounds  but  because  they  are 
afraid  they  cannot  administer  the  vast  enterprises 
which  supply  a  large  part  of  our  population  with 
employment — took  occasion  to  show  how  a  labor 
government  could  handle  these  to  advantage  by 
impressing  the  technical  experts  of  the  country. 


The  Intellectuals  263 

These  he  pointed  out  were  the  real  brains  of  the 
community.  Endowed  with  the  largest  ability, 
and  trained  in  the  higher  technical  schools,  they 
have  acquired  a  complete  mastery  of  the  profession 
or  handicraft,  which  has  become  their  vocation. 
There  is  no  question  therefore  as  to  their  compe- 
tency to  direct  industrial  activities  for  a  Commune. 

Three  difficulties  occurred  to  the  writer— 

The  fact  that  capital  had  already  mobilized  the 
inventive  and  constructive  talent  of  the  Nation; 

The  lethargy  of  the  technical  experts  themselves ; 

The  lack  of  interest  which  these  latter  show  in 
Soviet  propaganda. 

These  obstacles  it  was  suggested  could  be  over- 
come by  waking  the  skilled  workman,  specialist, 
and  overseer  to  the  degradation  of  their  present 
employment,  and  the  boundless  opportunity  await- 
ing them  if  labor  should  be  substituted  for  the  capi- 
tal now  employing  them.  The  author  recom- 
mended that  wise  and  patient  souls  now  planning 
for  the  re-organization  of  society  in  the  United 
States  lose  no  time  in  grooming  the  technical 
genius  and  talent  of  the  country  for  the  great  part 
it  is  to  play  in  the  future. 

Now  I  presume  this  is  all  very  harmless.  I  can 
visualize  the  extremely  rich  autocrat  who  fools 
himself  into  believing  that  American  society  would 
go  to  the  bow-wows  if  it  were  not  for  his  wire-pull- 
ing, smiling  at  its  ingenuousness.  He  knows 
perfectly  well  the  limitations  of  most,  if  not  all  spe- 


264  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

cialists.  He  appreciates  how  inexorable  is  the  law 
which  makes  organizers  and  chieftains  out  of  those 
unsuspected  of  merit.  Therefore  he  ignores  such 
deliverances  just  as  his  easy-going  countrymen  ig- 
nore them.  Meanwhile,  although  this  disposition 
to  meddle  with  the  established  order  may  be  innoc- 
uous in  itself,  its  spirit  is  symptomatic  of  discon- 
tent, if  not  of  disloyalty,  and  carried  to  the  nth  power 
indicates  a  probable  change  in  the  political  system. 

We  have  seen  that  it  is  not  easy  for  the  American 
people  to  keep  its  shifting  personnel  informed  as  to 
its  traditions.  If  they  can  maintain  their  standards 
among  the  mongrel  population,  made  up  of  an  un- 
assimilated  citizenry  and  foreigners,  in  the  face  of 
evil  influence  which  sneers  at  their  holy  things, 
plots  their  undoing,  and  deliberately  discusses  the 
modus  operandi  of  a  government  to  be  substituted 
for  the  existing  Republic,  they  will  have  accom- 
plished that  which  the  evidence  of  history  leads 
us  to  suppose  is  impossible. 

Reference  to  the  alien  brings  me  directly  to  the 
occasion  for  this  chapter,  viz. — the  effect  that  stric- 
ture, disparagement,  and  intrigue  have  upon  that 
part  of  our  population  which  still  belongs  to  the 
old  world  rather  than  to  the  new. 

We  have  already  noted  that  among  those  citi- 
zens who  file  indictments  against  the  democracy 
are  the  loyal  men  and  women  whose  necessary  and 
desirable  protests  against  public  corruption,  mal- 
feasance in  office,  and  political  chicanery  serve  to 


The  Intellectuals  265 

gauge  the  moral  status  of  the  Nation.  It  is  re- 
grettable, but  undeniable,  that  this  outspoken 
and  fearless  castigation  of  bad  men  and  bad  meas- 
ures is  misinterpreted  by  the  better  element 
among  the  immigrants  and  misused  by  those  who 
are  corrupt  and  wickedly  disposed. 

While  the  challenge  which  calls  upon  fraud  and 
knavery  to  unmask  must  continue  in  the  interests 
of  good  government,  it  is  stupid  for  men  who  love 
the  Republic  not  to  realize  that  their  just  censure 
of  wrongdoing  is  interpreted  by  the  foreigner  as 
endorsing  the  sneers  and  jibes  of  the  disaffected, 
warranting  the  meddling  of  visionaries,  and  justi- 
fying revolution.  It  is  infinitely  embarrassing— 
infinitely  unfortunate — but  it  is  a  real  condition 
and  offers  one  of  the  most  potent  reasons  why  pa- 
triots should  find  a  way  to  muzzle  the  Intellectual 
or  make  his  work  innocuous.  If  they  cannot  do 
either,  they  ought  to  prepare  themselves  to  meet 
the  sort  of  physical  violence  which  is  so  frankly 
threatened. 

The  fact  that  they  are  obtuse  and  fail  to  deal 
wisely  with  those  who  are  ready  to  turn  national 
dilemmas  to  their  own  advantage  is  a  cause  for  real 
concern  to  those  who  have  believed  that  a  people's 
government  can  insure  order  and  freedom. 

It  is  also  cause  for  much  unquietness — that  the 
pamphleteer,  and  platform  orator,  who  does  not 
intend  to  pose  as  a  critic  but  who  is  ceaselessly 
raiding  our  institutions  or  asking  them  to  perform 


266  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

services  for  which  they  are  unfitted,  will  not  meas- 
ure his  deliverances  more  carefully.  In  case  of  the 
weak  optimist  such  caution  can  hardly  be  looked 
for.  In  the  case  of  the  careless  publicist  it  is  un- 
pardonable and  registers  a  degree  of  public  ob- 
liquity which  many  have  failed  to  suspect.  These 
individuals  are  little  concerned  in  business  matters 
or  commercial  enterprises  unless  it  be  by  way  of 
collecting  facts  and  figures  for  literary  use  or  philo- 
sophical deduction.  They  are  not  therefore  in  a 
position  to  plead  that  other  matters  have  had 
their  attention.  Omniverous  readers  of  all  that 
is  critical  and  censorious,  nothing  passes  them  that 
brings  an  official,  a  usage,  or  a  fallacious  govern- 
ment scheme  into  the  spotlight.  Careful  watchers 
of  every  sociological  experiment,  they  are  better 
advised  regarding  the  complexion  and  character 
of  the  alien  and  partly  absorbed  citizen  than  any 
others  in  the  communtiy.  They  know  the  lack  of 
knowledge  of  this  element,  and  the  wicked  in- 
fluences that  control  them.  Notwithstanding  this 
they  continue  to  provide  pabulum  for  the  discon- 
tented, and  even  use  the  explicable  errors  of  their 
fellow-citizens  to  prop  up  futile,  if  not  disloyal, 
propositions. 

It  is  portentous  that  there  are  so  many  in  the 
Republic  who  in  exigent  times  have  the  mind  to 
use  its  misfortunes  in  such  a  way  as  to  hasten  its 
collapse. 


CHAPTER  IX 

PROPAGANDA 

PERSUASIVE  teaching  given  with  a  defined  ob- 
ject has  been  and  is  a  medium  for  bringing 
about  human  welfare  or  woe.  Directed  by  wis- 
dom, patience,  and  an  iron  will  it  is  compelling 
when  it  is  conformable  to  law,  and  unutterably 
mischievous  when  directed  to  an  unworthy  or  mis- 
taken end.  For  this  reason  democracies  have  rea- 
son to  fear  such  purposeful  instruction  as  human 
units  dread  an  unfamiliar  draft.  It  may  bring 
them  lasting  harm.  It  may  prove  beneficial. 
Therefore  it  is  immensely  important  that  they 
should  be  informed  in  regard  to  it. 

While  the  truth  thus  stated  has  been  long  taught 
by  philosophy  and  history,  it  remained  for  the 
World  War  to  find  a  name  for  this  illimitable  force 
which  makes  or  mars,  and  to  couple  the  christen- 
ing with  an  illustrative  definition  which  has  burned 
into  the  mortal  soul. 

The  name  is  propaganda — not  an  unfamiliar  word 
— and  the  extreme  example  of  what  propaganda 
does  is  illustrated  by  the  shocking  transformation 

267 


268  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

of  kindly  sentimental  peoples  into  a  merciless  and 
lawless  army. 

Before  1914  the  American  people  knew  that 
human  society  and  their  political  institutions  could 
be  readily  modified,  helped,  or  disintegrated  by 
planning  and  contriving  that  worked  into  ex- 
pression through  platform  and  pen.  They  had 
watched  the  workings  out  of  campaigns  to  extend 
and  abolish  slavery — and  had  tasted  the  dreadful 
fruitage  of  misdirected  ambition  in  the  war  be- 
tween the  States. 

Meantime  in  these  cases  as  in  others  less  mo- 
mentous, the  causes  which  shaped  dominating 
opinions  were  so  natural  or  obscure  as  to  escape 
the  attention  they  deserved. 

There  was  some  inquiry  into  origins,  and  num- 
berless dissertations  upon  these,  but  nothing  scien- 
tific or  systematic  was  done  to  provide  against 
the  unhappy  rolling-up  of  bad  or  dangerous  senti- 
ment. Psychology  had  not  received  suitable  at- 
tention. Men  were  inclined  to  fight  evils  that 
had  taken  on  form,  and  were  not  doing  the  sort  of 
subjective  thinking  that  would  lead  them  to  nip 
disorders  in  the  bud.  Not  from  choice  but  from 
inertia  they  defended  their  institutions  when 
finally  assaulted,  but  failed  to  meet  the  enemy  on 
his  own  ground.  That  was  the  way  they  fought 
fever  until  Gorgas  taught  them  better,  and  while 
the  warnings  of  statesmen  indicate  that  they  knew 
the  cost  of  unfortunate  instruction,  there  con- 


Propaganda  269 

tinned  to  be  an  indisposition  on  the  part  of  the 
public  to  deal  with  any  other  perils  than  those 
which  were  tangible  and  immediate. 

It  is  difficult  to  believe  in  the  light  of  the  inquiry 
which  was  forced  by  the  German  cataclysm  that 
mankind,  least  of  all  the  citizens  of  a  Republic, 
will  ever  be  so  unobservant  again.  Meantime  for 
the  purpose  of  this  book  it  is  desirable  to  briefly 
recur  to  the  development  of  Prussian  propaganda, 
cite  examples  of  domestic  propaganda,  and  specify 
reasons  why  the  American  should  dread  this  pos- 
sible foe  of  liberty. 

Whoever  is  responsible  for  the  beginnings  of 
German  errancy,  it  is  certain  that  there  were 
Germans  as  early  as  the  eighteenth  century  who 
were  laying  the  foundations  for  trouble,  and  who 
with  Fichte  (1762-1814)  believed  that  a  man  who 
was  possessed  of  knowledge  and  power  had  the 
right  and  duty  to  compel  the  whole  of  mankind 
to  submit  to  his  direction. 

It  is  true  that  the  philosopher  recognized  the 
fact  that  any  individual  who  assumed  the  respon- 
sibility of  dictating  to  his  fellow-men  must  take 
upon  his  own  conscience  any  risk  that  he  might 
run  of  being  wrong.  Meantime  the  norm  trouble 
lay  in  a  philosophy  which  enphasized  that  man 
can  be  a  "  master  armed  with  compulsion  and 
appointed  by  God." 

Nietzsche,  1844-1900,  and  Treitschke,  built 
upon  these  foundations.  Nietzsche,  the  prophet  of 


270  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

the  "Mailed  Fist,"  furnished  abundant  pabulum  to 
arrogant  military  men  in  his  view  of  life  as  "essen- 
tially appropriation,  injury,  conquest  of  the  strange 
and  weak,  and  obtrusion  of  its  own  forms," — and 
Treitschke  furnishes  numerous  indices  of  the  rapid 
development  of  the  unforgivable  Prussian  propa- 
ganda by  saying  in  various  ways  that  "weakness 
(apparently  synonomous  with  humanity)  must  al- 
ways be  condemned  as  the  most  disastrous  and 
despicable  of  crimes,  the  unforgivable  sin  of 
politics." 

These  quotations  illustrate  the  wicked  trend  of 
thought  in  the  group  that  during  the  nineteenth 
century  had  slipped  into  the  saddle  for  the  avowed 
purposes  of  aggrandizing  the  Fatherland. 

What  is  of  even  more  importance  and  not  less 
easily  proved  by  evidence  is  the  swiftly  widening 
circle  of  persons  in  all  walks  of  life  who  adopted  the 
inexcusable  heresy  which  finally  poisoned  the  minds 
of  continental  Germans.  From  the  Emperor  who 
as  early  as  1900  had  been  led  to  believe  that  if  any- 
thing in  the  world  was  to  be  decided  it  must  be 
done  by  the  sword  or  the  "pen  supported  by  the 
force  of  the  sword" — to  Delbruck,  the  professor, 
who  put  Might  in  the  place  of  Right — new  shoals 
of  persons  in  every  walk  of  life  and  with  each  re- 
curring year  added  their  voices  to  the  vicious 
chorus  until  the  non-German  observer  is  forced 
to  conclude  that  there  was  no  way  out  for  the  great 
populace  of  farmers,  commercial  people,  and  me- 


Propaganda  271 

chanics  except  to  adopt  what  seemed  to  be  the 
voice  of  the  Nation. 

There  follow  a  few  extracts  drawn  from  matter 
already  given  the  public  to  illustrate  the  univer- 
sality of  a  line  of  thought  so  wrong  as  to  defeat 
its  own  object  in  unshackled  minds. 

In  1906  Klaus  Wagner  is  reported  to  have  said: 

It  is  a  great,  powerful  nation  which  overturns  a  less 
courageous  and  frequently  degenerate  people  and 
takes  its  territory  from  it.  For  a  great,  strong  people 
finds  its  house  too  narrow,  it  cannot  stir  and  move 
about,  cannot  work  and  build  up,  cannot  thrive  and 
grow.  The  great  nation  needs  new  territory.  There- 
fore it  must  spread  out  over  foreign  soil,  and  must 
displace  strangers  with  the  power  of  the  sword. 

This  pleased  Von  Bernhardi  who  in  1912  ad- 
mitted that : 

Germany's  claim  to  a  great  position  in  the  world 
may  certainly  lead  to  a  war  similar  to  the  Seven 
Years'  War.  Still  we  shall  be  as  victorious  as  was 
Prussia's  hero  King. 

and  noted  that : 

Germany  does  not  lack  money.  What  we  want  is  a 
firm  will  to  greatness.  Then  only  shall  we  attain 
greatness. 

Conceive  of  the  quotation  from  Wagner  as  re- 
flecting the  speech  and  opinion  of  thousands  of 


272  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

other  Germans,  and  the  expressed  will  of  Bern- 
hardi  as  but  one  instance  of  the  expressed  will  of 
the  German  leaders,  and  you  will  find  war  not 
only  to  be  inevitable,  but  close  at  hand. 

Bernhardi  and  his  sort  trusted  Germany's  readi- 
ness to  make  practical  application  of  Wagner's  bad 
philosophy,  and  made  possible  such  confident  ex-r 
pressions  as  we  have  from  K.  F.  Wolfe  in  1913: 

The  conquerors  are  acting  only  according  to  biologi- 
cal principles  if  they  suppress  alien  languages  and 
undertake  to  destroy  strange  popular  customs.  .  .  . 

Only  the  conquering  race  must  be  populous,  so  that 
it  can  overrun  the  territory  it  has  won. 

Inferior  races  are  eligible  only  to  positions  of  a  non- 
political  character,  to  commercial  commissions, 
chambers  of  commerce.  .  .  . 

The  principal  thing  for  the  conqueror  is  the  out- 
spoken will  to  rule  and  the  will  to  destroy  the  political 
and  national  life  of  the  conquered. 

At  the  later  date  no  further  tests  were  necessary ; 
Germany  was  armed  to  the  teeth  and  had  the  will 
to  strike.  In  1914  civilization  reeled  when  propa- 
ganda crystallized  itself  into  an  aggressive  and 
merciless  war  directed — 

with  a  cruelty,  frightfulness  and  employment  of  every 
imaginable  device  unknown  to  any  previous  war. 
(PASTOR  BAUMGARTEN  in  Deutsche  Reden  in  Schwerer- 
Zeit — 1914-1915.) 


Propaganda  273 

So  muoh  for  the  preparation  which  made  possi- 
ble the  scourging  of  modern  civilized  Europe  by 
Prussian  savages  (with  the  Teutonic  tribes  which 
they  dominate)  in  a  manner  less  conscionable  than 
were  any  of  the  barbaric  forays  against  decadent 
Rome.  Bleeding  and  suffering  severely  from  the 
dreadful  effects  of  erroneous  but  cunningly  directed 
teaching,  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  not 
likely  to  forget  the  meaning  of  the  word  "  pro- 
paganda," and  should  not  be  unwilling  to  make 
such  self-examination  as  will  reveal  the  prodigious 
power  of  propaganda  when  it  is  used  to  shape  their 
own  action. 

Perhaps  nothing  will  illustrate  this  power  better 
than  the  comparatively  recent  peace  movement 
launched  from  an  admirable  motive  by  a  small 
group  of  professors  and  scholars  whose  loyalty  to 
the  Constitution  cannot  be  doubted. 

Few  noticed  its  beginnings  which  must  have 
been  in  a  closet.  It  did  not  take  expression  until 
1915  or  1916  when  the  League  to  Enforce  Peace 
was  organized  as  a  result  of  a  preliminary  meeting 
at  Cleveland  and  a  breakfast  at  the  Willard  in 
Washington.  Funds  appear  to  have  been  in 
sight  from  the  day  of  its  infancy  and  accumulated 
rapidly  under  the  appeal  of  its  sponsors.  These 
provided  the  sinews  of  war  and  made  it  possible 
to  prepare  and  distribute  the  literature  necessary 
to  acquaint  the  public  with  its  platform  and  pro- 
vide it  with  a  sustaining  membership. 

19 


274  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

This  done,  its  policies  were  set  out  in  becoming 
shape,  and  brought  to  the  attention  of  individual 
churches  and  societies  for  human  uplift  as  well  as 
to  the  national  committees  or  conventions  through 
whom  these  units  voice  their  attitude  on  public 
questions. 

Inasmuch  as  universal  peace  is  believed  by  a 
large  proportion  of  humane  people  to  be  the  ulti- 
mate goal  of  civilization,  it  quickly  popularized 
itself.  Thousands  allied  themselves  with  it,  and 
hundreds  of  thousands  looked  to  it  for  direction. 
This  gave  it  a  driving  force  and  influence  that  was 
almost  irresistible. 

It  is  fortunate  that  its  sponsors  were  patriots, 
otherwise  by  the  time  the  war  issue  became  a  vital 
one,  they  might  readily  have  modified  the  policy 
of  the  Federal  Administration.  As  it  was,  so 
exceedingly  potent  was  the  movement  that  after 
the  temporary  eclipse  which  a  concentration  of  the 
war  spirit  made  inevitable,  it  was  still  in  a  position, 
adapting  its  principles  to  what  its  leaders  regarded 
as  a  present  need,  to  not  only  secure  government 
attention  to  the  League  of  Nations  proposition  but 
to  make  this  surprisingly  popular  in  the  United 
States. 

Here  is  an  instance  of  the  way  in  which  senti- 
ment in  the  country  can  be  speedily  shaped  and 
mobilized.  It  is  purposely  chosen  because  no  one 
can  doubt  the  high  purpose  of  the  eminent  gentle- 
men who  were  behind  the  propaganda,  and  not 


Propaganda  275 

with  the  object  of  raising  a  discussion  as  to  its 
merits. 

Perhaps  a  better  example  of  propaganda  and  its 
amazing  effect  is  the  law  which  has  stopped  the 
use  of  alcoholic  beverages  by  the  American  people. 
It  matters  little  for  the  present  purpose  whether 
the  result  is  beneficent,  or  whether  it  abridges 
the  constitutional  liberties  of  the  citizenry  which 
are  guaranteed  by  the  Constitution.  The  up- 
standing fact  is  that  after  sentiment  had  once  been 
shaped  by  cogent  and  insistent  appeal,  first  the 
state  legislatures  and  then  the  National  Congress 
did  its  bidding,  and  that  the  restraining  legislation 
which  followed  took  a  large  part  of  the  voting 
population  by  surprise. 

Such  are  certain  concrete  instances  of  the  power 
which  propaganda  in  the  United  States  has  to  work 
the  will  of  the  men  and  women  behind  it.  That  it 
is  recognized  in  some  degree  by  men  of  standing 
who  have  had  training  in  public  affairs  is  evidenced 
by  sporadic  efforts  made  by  legislatures  to  con- 
trol it.  Reference  to  one  of  these  will  be  illumi- 
nating as  indicating  the  manner  in  which  ambitious 
spirits  contrive  to  use  the  government  machinery 
for  their  ends,  and  will  furnish  the  reader  with  the 
interesting  comment  of  individuals  who  have 
crossed  swords  with  it. 

February  8,  1917,  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  then  considering  the  Agricultural  Appro- 
priation Bill  (No.  19359),  was  asked  by  Senator 


276  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

Kenyon  to  consider  an  amendment   which   he 
offered  and  for  purposes  which  will  sufficiently 
appear  in  the  excerpts  quoted  below. * 
This  amendment  provided  that : 

No  part  of  the  appropriations  made  by  this  Act 
whether  for  salaries  or  expenses  or  any  purpose  con- 
nected therewith  shall  be  used  in  connection  with  any 
money  contributed  or  tendered  by  the  General  Educa- 
tion Board  or  any  corporate  or  other  organization  or 
individual  in  any  way  associated  with  it,  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  or  contributed  or  tendered  by 
any  corporation  or  individual  other  than  such  as  may 
be  contributed  by  State,  County  or  Municipal  agen- 
cies, nor  shall  the  Department  of  Agriculture  receive 
any  moneys  for  salaries  or  any  other  purpose  from  the 
General  Educational  Board,  etc. 

Nor  shall  any  person  paid  in  whole  or  in  part  by  any 
such  corporation  for  services  rendered  by  him  be  em- 
ployed by  the  Government  or  become  or  remain  an 
officer  of  the  Government. 

Senator  Kenyon  in  speaking  upon  his  amend- 
ment reminded  his  colleagues  that  in  1914  (see 
Con.  Rec.  Feb.  8,  1917,  p.  3148),  he  had  introduced 
a  resolution  in  the  Senate  calling  upon  the  Secre- 
tary of  Agriculture  to  submit  a  list  of  those  in  his 
Department  who  were  paid  in  part  by  organiza- 
tions outside  the  Government — and  that  in  response 
thereto  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  had  returned 
a  list  of  more  than  four  hundred  names,  some  of 
whom  were  paid  a  nominal  sum  by  the  Depart- 


Propaganda  277 

ment  but  whose  main  salaries  were  paid  by  the 
General  Educational  Board  which  is  a  part  of  the 
Rockefeller  Foundation. 

The  Senator  followed  this  reference  up  with  the 
statement  that  although  Congress  had  at  that  time 
adopted  a  somewhat  similar  amendment  to  the 
one  he  was  now  proposing,  the  practice  had  not 
been  stopped,  and  that  he  had  in  his  possession  a 
communication  from  the  Civil  Service  Commission 
which  showed  that  "at  this  time  there  are  some 
five  hundred  people  engaged  in  the  Department 
of  Agriculture  receiving  from  one  dollar  per  year 
up  to  twenty-five  dollars  per  year  from  the  Gov- 
ernment," but  who  were  presumably  paid  by  the 
General  Educational  Fund  or  other  outside  parties. 

To  me  [said  the  Senator]  it  seems  fundamental 
that  the  practice  should  be  prohibited,  and  that  the 
Government  pay  its  own  employees  without  any 
assistance  from  the  Rockefeller  Foundation. 

He  concluded  by  urging  an  investigation  and 
saying : 

What  particular  reason  is  there  why  parties  should 
receive  a  dollar  a  year  from  the  Government,  become 
employees  of  the  Government  in  that  way  and  be 
given  the  franking  privilege,  thus  enabling  them  to 
send  documents  all  over  this  country  at  the  great  ex- 
pense of  the  Government  ?  It  is  an  insidious  influence 
in  our  Government  that  ought  to  be  stopped. 


278  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

Those  who  have  the  patience  to  review  ancient 
records  will  dig  up  more  matter  for  thought  in  the 
debate  which  followed  Senator  Kenyon's  amend- 
ment than  is  commonly  to  be  gleaned  from  such 
repositories.  Thus  they  will  find  that  on  objection 
made  by  Senator  Smoot  of  Utah  to  the  statement 
that  recipients  of  one-dollar  salaries  from  the  Gov- 
ernment had  a  right  to  the  free  use  of  the  mails ; 
two  important  facts  were  quickly  made  plain,  viz. 
— that  employees  of  private  persons  or  corpora- 
tions, nominally  officers  of  the  Administration, 
were  in  such  relations  to  the  heads  of  departments 
as  to  make  it  practicable  for  them  to  secure  the 
printing  by  Congress  as  departmental  documents 
of  papers  and  pamphlets  prepared  by  them  under 
their  supervision — and  to  distribute  any  amount 
of  such  literature  by  securing  the  interest  or  en- 
dorsement of  a  Senator. 

They  will  also  find  many  excerpts  taken  from 
the  national  press  and  from  letters  of  eminent  in- 
dividuals written  or  printed  as  a  result  of  this  or 
earlier  agitation  for  the  blocking  of  other  than 
government  control  of  government  organs  and 
which  were  referred  to  in  debate.  Two  of  them, 
one  from  the  Atlanta  Journal,  and  the  other  from 
the  Springfield  Republican,  are  so  germane  to  the 
subject  under  discussion  that  I  shall  quote  them 
here. 

The  first  contains  certain  extraordinary  pas- 
sages prepared  prior  to  the  German  debacle  (viz., 


Propaganda  279 

April  2,  1909),  which  clearly  point  out  the  prac- 
ticability of  shaping  the  minds  of  peoples  or  na- 
tions so  that  they  will  do  the  will  of  a  mean  minor- 
ity, and  which  note  that  the  people  do  not  realize 
the  power  which  educational  institutions  control. 

When  England  wished  to  insure  her  dominion  in 
Normandy  she  founded  the  University  of  Caen  in 
1436. 

When  Spain  desired  to  consolidate  the  Netherlands 
she  established  the  University  of  Douay  in  1572  and 
with  it  she  achieved  results  that  still  abide. 

After  the  battle  of  Jena  Germany  set  about  heal- 
ing the  political  bruises  and  military  wounds  inflicted 
upon  her  in  that  disastrous  defeat  by  founding  the 
University  of  Berlin  in  1810.  Of  this  Schleiermacher 
said:  "Berlin  will  become  the  center  of  the  entire 
intellectual  activity  of  Northern  and  Protestant  Ger- 
many, and  a  solid  foundation  will  be  prepared  for  the 
accomplishment  of  the  mission  assigned  to  the  Prus- 
sian Government. 

Think  of  the  proposition !  To  elevate  the  Kingdom 
of  Prussia  and  to  unify  the  German  Empire  by  es- 
tablishing a  school!  Our  practical  men  would  laugh 
at  such  an  idea.  The  event  has  justified  the  wisdom 
of  their  far-sighted  proposal.  With  its  great  uni- 
versity Berlin  is  the  very  heart  of  the  nation's  life  and 
its  influence  is  felt  throughout  the  world.  Our  own 
educational  institutions  have  not  escaped  the  influ- 
ence of  the  University  of  Berlin." 

In  1870  Bismarck  undertook  the  Germanizing  of 


28o  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

Alsace-Lorraine   by   completely    reconstructing    the 
University  of  Strassbourg. 

It  is  not  safe  for  the  educational  institutions  of  the 
country  to  be  under  the  virtual  dominion  of  fifteen 
men  [The  reference  is  here  to  the  General  Education 
Board  incorporated  by  an  Act  of  Congress  approved 
Jan.  12,  1903],  however  pure  they  may  imagine  their 
intentions  to  be.  It  is  not  a  question  of  motives  but 
a  question  whether  it  is  good  for  the  country  to  have 
its  educational  work  determined  by  a  board  of  fifteen 
men  responsible  to  no  authority,  civil  or  educational, 
in  the  land.  Such  a  centralized  educational  system  is 
perilous  to  the  extreme.  It  is  such  a  concentration  of 
power  in  the  matter  of  the  highest  interest  of  the 
nation  as  no  fifteen  men  however  wise  or  virtuous  can 
be  trusted  to  exercise  without  abusing  it  to  the  fur- 
therance of  their  own  interest,  and  to  the  injury  of 
those  who  do  not  agree  with  them  in  interest  or 
opinion. 

The  second  excerpt  meets  the  argument  which  is 
so  often  advanced  that  the  people  are  dependent 
upon  the  guidance  of  cliques  and  coteries. 

There  are  those  who  still  hold  the  idea  that  but  for 
these  great  individual  fortunes  and  their  benefactions 
society  would  be  worse  off  than  it  is  in  educational 
and  philanthropic  work.  Such  theory  is  wholly  un- 
tenable— that  the  people  cannot  generally  be  trusted 
properly  to  appreciate  the  importance  of  education 
and  other  effort  for  the  elevation  of  the  race  and  the 
amelioration  of  the  general  conditions  of  living,  or  to 


Propaganda  281 

contribute  adequately  to  their  support;  it  is  only 
true  that  the  people  will  be  laggard  in  support  of  such 
efforts  when  a  comparatively  few  towering  fortunes 
exist,  able  and  willing  to  be  leaned  on  for  these  needs. 
Then  we  may  expect  communities  or  institutions  to 
develop  a  mendicant  attitude  and  turn  from  self-help 
to  help  from  beyond  which  flows  down  as  if  from  some 
superior  source  that  is  to  be  held  in  worshipful  con- 
sideration. How  socially  demoralizing  this  must  be 
no  one  can  fail  to  understand. 

It  will  be  noted  that  these  newspaper  para- 
graphs have  more  to  do  with  the  educational  than 
the  agricultural  department  of  the  Government. 
Such  references  are  explained  by  Senator  Kenyon's 
statement  adverted  to — that  the  Department  of 
Education  had  already  attracted  Congressional 
investigations. 

Incidents  in  the  former  episode  were  frequently 
on  the  lips  of  Senators  and  were  used  most  effec- 
tively. An  instance  of  this  follows.  It  will  be 
found  on  page  3149  of  the  Congressional  Record. 

Senator  Chamberlain — At  a  hearing  before  the 
Committee  on  the  District  of  Columbia  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  on  the  twelfth,  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  days  of  April  of  last  year  (1916),  Mr. 
E.  J.  Ward  was  a  witness.  He  was  one  of  the  gentlemen 
who  was  carried  on  the  roll  of  the  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion at  a  salary  of  one  dollar  per  annum  paid  by  the 
Government  and  he  did  not  disclose  who  paid  the 
balance  or  principal  part  of  his  salary.  It  is  fair  to 


282  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

say  in  his  behalf,  however,  that  the  inquiry  was  not 
pressed.  He  was  asked  by  Mr.  Lloyd,  a  member  of 
the  Committee: 

Mr.  Lloyd — As  a  matter  of  fact  you  are  an  em- 
ployee of  the  Bureau  of  Education. 

Mr.  Ward — I  am  an  employee  sworn  as  others  to 
defend  the  Constitution  using  the  Government  frank 
as  others. 

Mr.  Lloyd — Is  it  true  then  that  your  purpose  in 
being  connected  with  the  Department  was  to  get  the 
privilege  of  the  frank  ? 

Mr.  Ward — My  purpose  in  being  connected  with 
the  department  was  to  render  therein  the  service  which 
I  could  render  by  having  this  opportunity. 

And  again — Senator  Chamberlain  after  some  in- 
terruption proceeded: 

"  I  do  not  know  this  gentleman,  Mr.  Ward.  I  only 
judge  him  by  his  testimony  here.  The  question  was 
asked  him  in  view  of  the  fact  that  he  was  getting  only 
about  one  dollar  a  year  from  the  Government  and  the 
balance  from  some  other  source,  to  whom  he  felt  his 
allegiance  was  due — whether  to  the  individual  who 
paid  the  salary  or  to  the  Government  of  the  United 
States.  I  just  want  to  call  your  attention  to  it  be- 
cause the  way  he  answered  the  question  is  quite  amus- 
ing. 

Mr.  Ragsdale  (interposing) — The  question  is,  who 
has  the  right  to  direct  your  service — the  Government 
or  the  person  who  is  paying  you  ? 

Mr.  Ward — If  I  may  quote  a  statement  out  of 
Court,  that  would  depend  on  whether  you  agree  with 
one  of  the  members  of  Congress  who  said — "Who 
pays  the  piper  calls  the  tune."  All  of  my  income 


Propaganda  283 

except  one  dollar  comes  from  a  private  individual.  If 
you  accept  that  statement  and  make  it  apply,  there 
is  at  least  a  suspicion  that  I  am  controlled  by  some- 
body besides  the  Government.  As  to  the  fact  of  my 
control,  I  doubt  it. 

Mr.  President,  there  ought  not  to  be  anybody  on 
the  payroll  of  the  Government  with  the  powers  that 
these  individuals  must  have  in  the  very  nature  of 
things,  who  cannot  say  promptly  and  peremptorily 
that  he  considers  that  his  allegiance  is  due  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  and  not  to  the  man 
who  pays  his  salary.  If  he  cannot  do  this,  he  has  no 
business  in  the  employ  of  the  Government. 

This  is  good  reading  and  indicates  a  clear  under- 
standing of  the  necessity  of  preserving  adminis- 
trative proprieties,  but  Senator  Chamberlain  does 
not  stop  here.  His  vision  is  excellent  and  he  ap- 
pears to  perfectly  understand  not  only  the  mischief 
that  will  follow  the  practice  of  putting  Government 
machinery  at  the  disposal  of  private  interests,  but 
the  peril  that  lies  in  propaganda. 

Thus  after  pointing  out  to  the  immense  power  ex- 
ercised by  certain  great  Foundations  whose  method 
he  declares  are  dangerous  to  American  youth,  he 
goes  on  to  say : 

Let  me  illustrate  what  I  mean.  Give  me,  Mr. 
President,  the  education  of  the  youth  of  the  country 
and  the  control  of  $100,000,000  or  $200,000,000  for  a 
period  of  years  to  use  as  I  please  and  I  venture  the 
prediction  that  in  two  or  three  generations  /  can  prac- 


284  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

tically  change  the  ideal  of  America.  It  is  not  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  this  Republic  where  the  school 
has  been  resorted  to  to  change  public  opinion,  nor  is  it 
the  first  instance  in  the  history  of  the  world  where 
schools  and  universities  have  been  resorted  to  for  the 
purpose  of  changing  public  opinion. 

I  have  often  wondered  why  it  was  that  Washington 
in  his  Farewell  Address  appealed  to  the  religious  side 
of  the  American  people,  and  stated  how  necessary  it 
was  for  our  preservation  that  we  preserve  the  religious 
and  the  moral  life.  I  never  got  from  any  source  an 
idea  as  to  why  that  was  included  in  his  Farewell  Ad- 
dress until  the  other  day,  and  I  concluded  that  it  was 
prompted  by  the  conditions  of  his  day  as  developed  in 
the  colleges  of  his  time. 

After  referring  to  the  fact  that  various  institu- 
tions of  learning  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution  were 
hotbeds  of  infidelity  and  reflected  the  philosophy 
of  Rousseau  and  Voltaire,  he  continues : 

If  it  was  true  in  those  days,  it  is  true  in  this  day, 
that  if  you  place  the  education  of  our  people  in  the 
hands  of  men  whose  ideas  are  at  variance  with  the 
ideas  and  ideals  of  most  of  the  people  of  the  country, 
there  is  no  telling  where  it  may  lead. 

I  have  followed  notable  examples  of  recent 
propaganda  in  the  United  States  by  citations  from 
a  Senatorial  debate  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that 
those  who  have  charge  of  the  business  affairs  of  the 
Republic  not  only  dread  propaganda  but  are  con- 


Propaganda  285 

scious  that  they  may  unwittingly  become  its  minis- 
ters. These  are  matters  of  history  and  as  such 
have  their  lesson. 

Interesting  to  the  scholar,  they  are  of  momen- 
tous significance  to  the  patriot  of  the  hour  who  can 
but  become  conscious,  as  he  reads,  of  the  inex- 
orableness  of  certain  sinister  movements  along  the 
line  of  propaganda  which  are  sweeping  Americans 
into  their  rising  tide. 

One  of  these  is  of  proletariat  origin.  The  other 
finds  its  head  in  the  distrustful  and  dominant 
super-wealth  of  the  country.  The  proletariat  is  of 
course  for  revolution.  Organized  super- wealth  en- 
deavors to  maintain  enough  of  the  political  status 
quo  to  insure  leadership  by  those  who  are  fitted 
to  lead,  and  with  this  end  in  view  either  subsidizes 
intellectualism  or  becomes  reactionary.  It  is  al- 
ways respectable  but  rarely  democratic. 

Only  the  other  day  L.  Lenine  pointed  out  the 
manner  in  which  the  doctrines  of  Carl  Marx  have 
been  propagated  from  the  first  and  second  Inter- 
national until  they  became  coherent  in  the  third 
International  and  Soviet  rule.  What  he  says  as  to 
the  first  and  second  International  of  this  world 
movement  applies  in  a  very  special  way  to  the 
mischievous  achievements  of  propaganda  in  Amer- 
ica. From  1849  to  1920  the  teachers  of  an  anti- 
capitalistic  creed  have  seen  their  numbers  grow 
from  an  insignificant  group  to  an  appreciable  part 
of  the  whole  population  of  the  United  States. 


286  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

Others  have  traced  the  development  of  this 
revolutionary  movement,  now  threatening  the 
national  life,  from  its  beginnings  to  results  which 
give  unquestioned  satisfaction  to  its  leaders.  The 
matter  is  voluminous  and  cannot  be  condensed 
without  difficulty,  so  that  it  is  deemed  unwise  to 
make  more  than  a  passing  reference  to  it  at  this 
point. 

For  the  same  reason  it  is  inexpedient  to  discuss 
developments  which  are  rapidly  shaping  up  as  the 
result  of  endeavors  of  the  well-meaning  leaders  in 
finance  whom  I  have  characterized  as  the  super- 
wealthy.  It  is  well  known  that  these  have  pro- 
vided Foundations  and  set  up  machinery  which  is 
to  be  operated  by  those  who  sympathize  with  the 
constructive  and  defensive  views  of  the  sort  of 
multi-millionaire  who  praises  democratic  institu- 
tions but  distrusts  the  people.  That  there  is 
cause  for  such  fear  must  be  conceded  by  any  ob- 
server who  understands  how  entirely  open  to  dis- 
loyal suggestion  are  the  widely  divided  groups  who 
constitute  the  American  states  and  who  know 
what  propaganda  means. 

Enough  has  been  written  in  preceding  pages  to 
give  one  who  has  not  heretofore  had  the  matter 
called  to  his  attention  some  idea  of  the  manner  in 
which  our  heterogeneous  people  has  been  thrown 
into  irreconcilable  coteries  which  have  nothing  in 
common  but  a  readiness  to  listen  to  any  one  who 
appeals  to  their  prejudices. 


Propaganda  287 

Something  remains  to  be  said  about  propaganda. 
Propaganda  is  the  supreme  power  in  the  world! 
Nothing  that  the  elements  present  in  the  way  of 
good  or  evil  compares  with  it.  Nothing  in  the 
world  of  mind  can  be  likened  to  it. 

Man  shrinks  before  the  havoc  that  results  from 
fire  and  flood,  but  he  stands  yet  more  in  awe  before 
the  wreckage  that  is  wrought  by  the  propaganda 
that  raises  armies  and  changes  empires. 

Man  is  keenly  alive  to  the  benefit  or  injury  that 
may  come  to  him  from  a  fellow-man,  but  he  has 
greater  cause  for  joy  or  sorrow  when  his  destiny  is 
shaped  by  some  right  or  wrong  conclusion  of  the 
race  that  is  reached  by  propaganda. 

I  do  not  think  that  humanity  has  realized  up  to 
the  present  time  that  this  thing  which  forges  the 
weapon  that  he  dreads  is  evil  propaganda.  Ages 
ago  men  got  far  enough  in  their  gropings  for  light 
to  realize  that  the  voice  of  the  people  (presumably 
when  given  as  the  result  of  deliberation)  was  the 
voice  of  God — vox  populi — Vox  Dei — but  up  to  this 
hour  they  have  not  waked  to  a  consciousness  that 
evil  propaganda  often  shapes  what  appears  to  be, 
but  what  is  not,  the  voice  of  the  people. 

One  grave  consequence  of  their  blindness  has 
been  the  ultimate  collapse  of  experiment  after  ex- 
periment in  free  government.  It  was  well  enough 
and  marked  progress  when  far-seeing  groups  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  government  by  the  people 
was  the  best  hope  for  bettering  themselves  and 


288  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

posterity,  but  the  discovery  of  these  forward-look- 
ing ones  has  thus  far  gone  for  naught  and  will  con- 
tinue so  to  do  until  a  way  has  been  found  by  which 
the  people  can  speak,  not  the  will  of  the  wire-puller 
but  its  own  will. 

It  is  because  no  right  solution  of  this  problem  has 
been  found  in  the  United  States  that  I  am  without 
ground  for  my  hope  that  the  American  people  will 
infuse  life  into  the  democracy  which  they  pretend 
to  maintain,  or  stand  up  against  the  insidious  forces 
which  are  undermining  their  political  principles. 

None  better  understood  than  the  framers  of  the 
Constitution  how  impossible  it  is  to  maintain  a 
government  of  the  people  when  some  sinister 
influence  is  working  its  will  in  the  electorate.  The 
most  casual  review  of  their  public  utterances  will 
make  it  clear  to  any  one  that  their  faith  in  the 
Republic  they  were  establishing  was  based  upon 
a  certain  homogeneity;  aspiration  based  upon  in- 
formation and  virtue ;  and  free  discussion. 

Whatever  they  believed,  they  certainly  are  on 
record  as  prophesying  that  the  democracy  could 
not  outlive  conditions  far  less  extraordinary  than 
those  with  which  we  are  coping  at  present, 


PART  IV 

REVOLUTION 


289 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  CALL  FOR  REVOLUTION 

'T'HIS  chapter  has  to  do  with  a  concrete  program 
•••  for  revolution  which  is  now  discussed  in  the 
United  States. 

Heretofore  attention  has  been  given  to  conditions 
favoring  revolution  which  have  included  a  change 
in  the  national  personnel  and  principles.  We  are 
now  in  due  course  to  acquaint  ourselves  with  the 
character  of  the  literature,  too  abundant  to  be 
collated,  which  is  urging  the  masses  to  break 
through  all  restraint,  overturn  the  political  system 
under  which  we  are  living,  and  assume  political 
control. 

It  will  shortly  be  seen  that  this  not  only  advo- 
cates the  overthrow  of  the  Government  as  a  right- 
eous act,  but  that  it  states  the  reason  for  such  dras- 
tic action  and  provides  ways  and  means  for  accom- 
plishing its  ends.  I  find  nothing  in  it ,  and  I  doubt 
if  the  reader  can,  which  provides  for  the  perpetua- 
tion of  democratic  institutions.  I  am  therefore 
driven  to  the  conclusion  that  democracy  in  Amer- 
ica has  every  prospect  of  a  pitched  battle  with 

291 


292  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

forces  alien  to  it  but  which  are  already  entrenched 
within  its  territory. 

Inasmuch  as  outside  of  these  subversive  forces 
the  Republic  is  having  a  hard  task  to  save  itself 
from  degenerating  and  suiciding,  this  revolutionary 
propaganda  can  hardly  be  treated  with  contempt, 
although  it  is  contemptible  both  in  its  objects  and 
in  the  instruments  it  uses.  It  is  true  that  it  con- 
tains in  itself  that  which  will  defeat  its  objects, 
but  it  is  also  true  that  it  may  through  its  excesses 
become  the  instrument  of  ushering  in  autocracy 
and  crushing  liberty. 

There  are  plenty  of  people  living  whose  child- 
hood was  spent  in  the  villages  and  towns  of  the 
industrial  North  of  forty  years  ago,  and  who  were 
acquainted  with  the  methods  of  thought  of  the 
people  who  occupied  them. 

While  the  communities  which  had  taken  on 
growth  with  the  installation  of  factories  were  more 
or  less  disfigured  by  a  slatternly  corner  or  outly- 
ing suburbs  occupied  by  the  unskilled  labor  of  that 
period,  most  of  them  reflected  the  minds  of  the  men 
and  women  who  had  built  them. 

Each  had  its  gay  circle,  its  ne'er-do-wells,  and 
its  paupers,  but  outside  this  minority  the  inhabi- 
tants generally  followed  the  thought  of  the  better 
educated  or  the  more  forceful  among  them.  They 
therefore  regarded  the  Sabbath  as  a  day  which  re- 
quired due  respect,  even  if  they  did  not  attend  the 
churches,  satisfied  themselves  with  the  mental 


The  Call  for  Revolution  293 

pabulum  offered  by  the  local  lyceum,  and  nour- 
ished a  regard  for  the  proprieties  in  all  matters 
touching  business  or  social  intercourse. 

It  followed,  therefore,  that  part  and  parcel  of 
the  Victorian  period  as  they  were,  they  were  suspici- 
ous of  innovation.  This  does  not  mean  that  they 
were  not  equal  to  splendid  action  in  time  of  emer- 
gency nor  that  they  had  lost  the  spirit  which  the 
more  mature  among  them  had  shown  in  the  critical 
period  of  the  Civil  War.  It  rather  indicated  a  desire 
to  be  temperate  in  all  things,  and  to  live  in  accord- 
ance with  the  principles  advocated  by  those  who 
had  shaped  their  thinking  along  political  as  well 
as  religious  lines. 

One  can  but  wonder  what  these  communities 
as  then  constituted  would  have  done  in  the  face 
of  the  extraordinary  appeals  calling  the  proleta- 
riat to  arms  with  which  this  generation  has  to  do. 
From  the  clean,  white  meeting  house  with  its  chaste 
spire,  and  the  general  store  of  the  hamlet,  to  the 
handsome  homes  and  thrifty  business  centers  of  the 
towns,  order  and  decency  as  physically  reflected 
would  undoubtedly  have  registered  an  automatic 
protest,  but  it  is  difficult  to  visualize  with  any  sat- 
isfaction what  the  reactions  would  have  been  upon 
the  society  of  that  earlier  day. 

We  are  sure  that  there  would  have  been  amaze- 
ment expressing  itself  in  many  different  ways,  and 
self-castigation  in  recognition  of  personal  respon- 
sibility. We  also  feel  that  there  would  have  been 


294  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

immediate  and  effective  action,  but  so  deeply  in- 
volved are  we  at  present  that  it  is  hard  to  put 
ourselves  in  their  position  and  to  know  how  clear- 
visioned  and  unhampered  men  would  have  handled 
the  emergency. 

Meantime  there  is  reason  for  referring  to  that 
period  which  as  a  matter  of  history  was  only  the 
other  day : 

First — because  it  emphasizes  as  nothing  else 
will  the  almost  unbelievable  change  that  has  been 
brought  about  in  the  United  States  through  forty 
years  of  commercial  absorption,  perverted  educa- 
tion and  immigration;  and 

Second—because  however  much  we  resent  the 
truth,  it  forces  upon  us  the  conviction  that  hetero- 
geneity has  introduced  a  loss  of  grip  and  vigor. 

If  this  frank  manner  of  dealing  with  the  situation 
arouses  apprehension  and  even  distress,  I  shall 
have  succeeded  in  securing  from  the  reader  a  more 
careful  consideration  of  the  statements  which  fol- 
low than  might  otherwise  have  been  expected. 

Ten  years  ago  or  thereabouts  there  came  into 
my  possession  a  little  red  book  printed  by  the  In- 
dustrial Workers  of  the  World,  and  then  in  general 
circulation.  I  refer  to  this  since  it  fairly  summar- 
izes the  sentiment  of  the  great  groups  of  irrecon- 
cilables  who  at  that  time  controlled  the  left  wing 
of  labor,  and  advanced  radicals,  together  with  the 
flotsam  and  jetsam  which  Stevenson  years  ago 
described  as  through  worthlessness  perpetually  at 


The  Call  for  Revolution  295 

war  with  society,  and  because  I  am  sure  that  many 
of  those  who  read  these  pages  will  recall  it. 

Prior  to  this  date  there  had  been  many  pronun- 
ciamentos  from  anarchistic  and  incendiary  circles 
printed  in  the  English  language.  A  flood  of  mis- 
chievous abuse  against  every  conserving  influence 
had  characterized  the  campaign  which  followed  the 
convictions  of  the  men  who  were  responsible  for 
the  murder  of  police  officers  during  the  great  de- 
monstration in  Chicago,  and  both  private  clique 
and  well-known  socialistic  journals  had  main- 
tained constant  fire  upon  the  ramparts  of  respecta- 
bility. This  was  accompanied  by  ceaseless  agi- 
tation in  the  foreign-language  press  although  it 
rarely  came  under  the  eyes  of  the  public. 

The  publication  of  the  red  book  marks  a  period 
in  which  the  enemies  of  the  Republic  adopted  a 
fearless  policy  of  putting  in  print  whatever  they 
had  to  say,  apparently  with  the  reasonable  expecta- 
tion that  it  would  be  difficult  to  secure  convictions 
unless  their  propaganda  was  accompanied  with 
some  overt  act.  This  expectation  appears  to  have 
been  based  upon  the  growing  influence  of  the  In- 
tellectuals who  with  an  unfailing  and  mischievous 
spirit  have  championed  license  in  speech  and  fought 
every  effort  to  discourage  incendiary  appeal. 

The  red  book  displays  a  chart  which  indicates  the 
manner  in  which  local  unions  for  each  industry  in 
a  given  city  or  town  are  tied  up  through  industrial 
departments  and  district  industrial  councils  with 


296  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

the  executive  board  which  acts  for  the  general 
organization. 

It  then  rehearses  the  story  of  the  rise  of  the 
I.  W.  W.,  beginning  with  the  Fall  of  1904,  at  which 
time  it  states  that  six  active  workers  in  the  revolu- 
tionary movement  held  a  conference  and  arranged 
a  call  for  a  larger  gathering. 

It  is  during  the  course  of  this  historic  summary 
that  it  makes  public  a  program  which,  threatening 
in  its  initiative,  becomes  increasingly  so  with  the 
amendments  of  successive  years. 

The  preamble  of  the  first  organization  recites : 

The  working  class  and  the  employing  class  have 
nothing  in  common.  There  can  be  no  peace  as  long 
as  hunger  and  want  is  found  among  millions  of  working 
people,  and  the  few  who  make  up  the  employing  class 
have  all  the  good  things  of  life.  Between  these  two 
classes  a  struggle  must  go  on  until  all  the  toilers  come 
together  in  the  political  as  well  as  the  industrial  field 
and  take  and  hold  that  which  they  produced  by  their 
labor,  etc. 

After  an  attack  upon  the  trade  unions  the  pre- 
amble continues : 

These  sad  conditions  can  be  changed,  etc.,  only  by 
an  organization  formed  in  such  a  way  that  its  members 
in  any  one  industry  or  in  all  industries  if  necessary 
cease  work  whenever  a  strike  or  lockout  is  on  in  any 
department  thereof,  thus  making  an  injury  to  one  an 
injury  to  all. 


The  Call  for  Revolution  297 

That  this  original  preamble  was  found  to  be  un- 
workable appears  in  the  comments  of  the  editor  of 
the  red  book  who,  after  referring  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  monthly  organ,  The  Industrial 
Worker,  the  call  for  the  defense  of  Moyer,  Hay- 
wood,  and  Pettibone  (arch  conspirators  against 
the  established  order  of  things),  and  the  discus- 
sions in  the  second,  third,  and  fourth  conventions, 
prints  the  amended  preamble  which  is  not  wanting 
in  clarity.  This  states : 

Between  these  two  classes  (the  working  class  and 
the  employing  class)  a  struggle  must  go  on  until  the 
workers  of  the  world  organize  as  a  class,  take  posses- 
sion of  the  earth  and  machinery  of  production,  and 
abolish  the  wage  system. 

and  again : 

It  is  the  historic  mission  of  the  working  class  to  do 
away  with  capitalism. 

The  army  of  production  must  be  organized  not  only 
for  the  everyday  struggle  with  the  capitalist  but  also 
to  carry  on  production  when  capitalism  shall  have  been 
overthrown. 

Leaving  now  the  I.  W.  W.  constitution  as  set  out 
in  the  red  book's  historical  survey,  it  will  be  well 
to  call  attention  to  the  editor's  comment  upon  the 
structure  and  tactics  of  the  I.  W.  W. 

Under  the  head  of  "Structure  of  the  I.  W.  W." 
he  says: 


298  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

The  I.  W.  W.  recognizes  the  need  of  working-class 
solidarity.  To  achieve  this  it  proposes  the  recognition 
of  the  class  struggle  as  the  basic  principle  of  the  organi- 
zation and  declares  its  purpose  to  be  the  fighting  of 
that  struggle  until  the  working  class  is  in  control  of 
the  administration  of  industry. 

In  its  basic  principle  the  I.  W.  W.  calls  forth  that 
spirit  of  revolt  and  resistance  that  is  so  necessary  a 
part  of  the  equipment  of  any  organization  of  the 
workers,  etc.  In  a  word  its  basic  principle  makes 
the  I.  W.  W.  a  fighting  organization.  It  commits  the 
union  to  an  unceasing  struggle  against  private  owner- 
ship and  control  of  industry.  There  is  but  one  bargain 
that  the  I.  W.  W.  will  make  with  the  employing  class- 
complete  surrender  of  all  control  of  industry  to  the 
organized  workers. 

Under  the  head  of  "I.  W.  W.  Tactics"  he  an- 
nounces that  the  I.  W.  W. : 

Aims  to  use  any  and  all  tactics  that  will  get  the 
results  sought  with  the  least  expenditure  of  time  and 
energy.  The  tactics  used  are  determined  solely  by  the 
power  of  the  organization  to  make  good  in  their  use. 
The  question  of  right  and  wrong  does  not  concern 
us.  ...  Failing  to  force  concessions  from  employers 
by  strike,  work  is  resumed  and  sabotage  is  used  to 
force  the  employers  to  consider  the  demands  of  the 
workers.  .  .  .  Interference  by  the  government  is  re- 
sented by  open  violence  of  the  government's  orders, 
going  to  jail  en  masse,  causing  expense  to  the  tax 
payers  which  are  but  another  name  for  the  employing 
class. 


The  Call  for  Revolution  299 

In  short  the  I.  W.  W.  advocates  the  use  of  militant 
direct  action  tactics  to  the  full  extent  of  our  power  to 
make  good. 

That  this  literature  thus  referred  to  is  revolu- 
tionary will  I  think  be  agreed  to  by  all;  that  it  was 
most  effective  in  encouraging  industrial  war  goes 
without  a  question.  The  sharp  campaigns  which 
were  engineered  by  the  I.  W.  W.  in  Lawrence, 
Mass.,  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  Philadelphia,  Pa., 
West  Virginia,  the  agricultural  regions  of  the  far 
West,  and  the  North  Central  Atlantic  States  if 
not  originally  initiated  were  fostered  by  it. 

Unfortunately,  however,  the  appeal  to  class 
feeling  and  for  the  subversion  of  established  in- 
stitutions becomes  increasingly  objectionable.  This 
is  always  the  way  with  tides  of  human  feeling  that 
are  not  checked  and  diverted.  They  do  not  stag- 
nate— they  rise ! 

The  red  book  was  inconspicuous  and  circulated 
only  among  the  elect.  Within  three  or  four  years 
following  its  publication  those  who  upheld  its  doc- 
trines were  advertising  their  irreconcilable  attitude 
toward  society  as  organized  in  America  by  bold 
declarations  on  the  red  flag,  in  the  radical  press, 
and  through  individuals. 

I  select  from  examples  of  this  sort  of  propa- 
ganda. 

On  a  banner  borne  in  an  industrial  city  during  a 
fiercely  fought  strike  the  following  appeared : 


300  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

TWENTIETH  CENTURY  CIVILIZATION 

For  the  progress  of  the  Human  Race  we  have  jails, 
gallows,  guillotines,  and  electric  chairs  for  the  people 
who  pay  to  keep  the  soldiers  to  kill  them  when  they 
revolt  against and  others,  czars  of  capitalism. 

Arise  !  !  !     Slaves  of  the  World. 

No  God.    No  Master. 
One  for  all  and  all  for  one. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  a  momentary  thrill 
passed  through  the  land  at  the  awful  announce- 
ment contained  in  the  pronunciamento :  "No 
God,  No  Master."  It  is  not  improbable  that 
the  assertion  awoke  many  for  the  first  time  to 
the  fact  that  a  great  body  of  persons  within  the 
Republic  were  challenging  the  primacy  of  God,  and 
throwing  off  the  restraints  which  have  differen- 
tiated man  from  animal. 

The  following  is  from  a  placard  distributed  in  the 
cities  about  the  Metropolis  of  New  England  and 
advertising  a  meeting  on  Boston  Common  to  be 
addressed  by  William  D.  Hay  wood  in  the  interest 
of  radicals  then  in  jail : 

Workers  of  Boston.  Ettor  and  Giovanni tti  will  be 
murdered  in  the  Electric  Chair  unless  YOU  SAVE 
THEM. 

Fellow-Citizens  and  Workers. — Do  not  be  fooled  by 
the  present  situation.  In  the  present  disclosures  re- 
vealing the  Dynamite  Planting  by  the  Contemptible 
[here  the  name  of  an  employer  of  labor 


The  Call  for  Revolution  301 

is  inserted] — and  his  Gang  of  Hirelings,  do  not 
forget  the  real  motive  of  the  Plant.  Capitalistic 
Editors  say  it  was  to  discredit  the  strikers,  that  was 
only  part  of  it,  the  bigger  motive  was  to  Get  Excuse  To 
Arrest  Ettor  and  Giovannitti.  The  Dynamite  planter 
was  sent  to  plant  the  dynamite  in  Ettor's  headquarters 
— only  his  unfamiliarity  with  the  building  caused  it 
to  be  left  on  the  other  side  of  the  partition  in  the 
cobbler's  shop. 

This  was  a  week  before  Ettor  and  Giovannitti  were 
arrested  for  murder.  When  one  Plant  failed,  the  das- 
tardly crew  put  up  another.  They  started  the  dis- 
turbances that  led  to  the  killing  of  Anna  La  Pizza. 
The  whole  thing  is  now  exposed. 

Innocent  men  have  spent  eight  months  in  jail. 

Demand  an  Immediate  special  session  of  the  court 
and  the  quashing  of  the  indictment  against  Ettor  and 
Giovannitti. 

There  follow  further  demands. 

Here  we  have  an  illustration  of  the  I.  W.  W.  tac- 
tics advocated  by  the  red  book — inflammatory  and 
false  assertion  used  in  defiance  of  all  regard  for  the 
truth.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  impudent  state- 
ments of  the  circular  forecast  the  diplomatic  methods 
which  have  become  familiar  to  the  public  in  such 
cases  as  the  widespread  propaganda  in  favor  of 
Sacco  and  Vanzetti,  sentenced  for  brutal  murder 
after  a  trial  in  which  the  defense  had  the  advantage 
of  all  the  safeguards  provided  by  the  laws  of  this 
country. 

Other  placards  of  this  period  published  in  differ- 


302  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

ent  cities  and  following  the  release  of  Ettor  and 
Giovannitti  claimed  that  the  result  had  been 
brought  about  not  by  the  regular  procedure  of  the 
law  but  by  the  asserted  will  of  the  people.  Ettor 
and  Giovannitti  appeared  on  the  platform  in  va- 
rious parts  of  the  country  and  were  widely  con- 
gratulated "by  those  who  helped  morally  and 
financially  to  free  them/' 

I  have  referred  to  matter  printed  in  the  English 
language  so  as  to  avoid  any  possible  error  by  trans- 
lation, but  the  reader  must  bear  in  mind  that  pub- 
lication of  this  sort  of  stuff  in  English  bore  a  mighty 
small  proportion  to  the  enormous  output  of  in- 
cendiary literature  which  kept  the  foreign  presses 
busy  and  permeated  every  colony  in  the  land. 
Most  of  these  were  in  bold  types  and  did  not  re- 
quire any  featuring.  There  were  some  among 
them  that  carried  pictures  which  did  no  credit  to 
the  poster-art.  One  of  these  represents  the  ghost 
of  Lincoln  standing  outside  prison  walls  behind 
which  Ettor  and  Giovannitti  were  supposed  to  be 
confined  and  holding  up  a  sheet  with  the  following 
words  inscribed  thereon : 

You  can  fool  some  of  the  people  all  the  time;  you 
can  fool  all  of  the  people  some  of  the  time;  but  you 
can't  fool  all  the  people  all  the  time. 

Before  him,  cringing  and  shrinking,  appears  the 
law  in  the  form  of  a  judge  in  his  robes  of  office,  a 
capitalist  who  hides  behind  the  magistrate's  gown, 


The  Call  for  Revolution  303 

a  policemen  with  "legal  murder**  written  on  his 
left  arm  which  holds  a  revolver,  and  a  masked 
dynamiter  supposed  to  be  the  tool  of  capitalism. 

A  few  words  from  Haywood  may  fitly  close  al- 
lusions to  the  first  era  of  radical  activity  in  this 
country  which  followed  the  shaping  up  of  the 
I.  W.  W.  movement.  They  are  taken  from  a 
reported  interview  in  which  the  head  of  the  I.W.W. 
is  alleged  to  have  said  that  violence  should  be 
charged  against  capital  which  kills  35,000  men 
every  year  and  injures  750,000  men  in  preventable 
accidents. 

The  workers  have  been  betrayed  [said  Haywood]  by 
the  church,  by  the  politicians,  by  the  so-called  social 
worker. 

Again: 

There  is  no  hope  in  the  ballot  because  a  large  pro- 
portion of  workers  have  no  means  of  expressing  their 
demands.  There  are  eight  million  women  and  chil- 
dren who  work  but  have  no  vote;  there  are  four  million 
black  men  and  some  million  of  foreigners  who  have  not 
been  vested  with  the  vote  or  have  been  deprived  of 
the  right  to  use  it. 

He  goes  on  to  say  that  he  sees  no  solution  except 
by  providing  that  the  working  class  receive  the 
full  value  of  their  labor  which  means  that  the 
workers  must  control  industry.  But  how  will  this 


304  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

be  brought  about?  According  to  Hay  wood,  by  the 
use  of  any  method  however  unjustifiable. 

An  explication  of  his  platform  leads  him  to 
sneeringly  remark  that  the  crimes  of  laborers  en- 
deavoring to  free  themselves  by  such  acts  as 

breaking  windows,  smashing  machinery,  or  damaging 
property  in  other  ways,  are  easily  defined  in  law  and 
easily  punished,  while  the  crimes  of  the  employers 
which  consist  in  imposing  conditions  of  life  upon 
their  workers  which  in  fact  amount  to  murder  are 
difficult  to  define. 

He  closes  the  interview  by  remarking  that  capi- 
talists should  be  eliminated  by  action  of  the 
workers  since  the  result  cannot  be  effected  by 
legislation,  and  saying: 

A  concrete  example  of  what  the  workers  can  do  has 
been  furnished  by  the  Lawrence  strike  in  the  United 
States,  and  a  coal  strike  in  Great  Britain  where  the 
workers  were  able  to  bring  the  Government  to  its  knees. 

If  this  industrial  power  is  sufficient  to  compel  the 
Government  to  do  things  against  its  will  and  against 
the  interest  of  the  ruling  classes  that  same  industrial 
power  is  strong  enough  to  abolish  the  Government 
itself. 

One  must  be  blind  who  does  not  see  that  the  iter- 
ation and  reiteration  of  such  sentiments  graphi- 
cally displayed  and  brought  to  the  attention  of 
the  discontented  by  word  of  mouth  and  every 


The  Call  for  Revolution  305 

possible  device  could  hardly  help  but  create  a 
disloyal  sentiment. 

Meanwhile  this  plan  of  campaign  is  differen- 
tiated from  that  which  followed  by  the  fact  that 
it  was  cautious  in  defying  the  Government  as  such 
and  was  generally  satisfied  with  attacking  capital- 
ists and  capitalism.  There  was  no  doubt  but  that 
it  was  growing  and  would  have  ultimately  reached 
the  peak  of  aggressive  disloyalty  when  the  War 
broke  out. 

The  great  debacle  of  1914  introduced  new  forces 
which  may  be  characterized  as  the  second  pro- 
gressive period  of  revolutionary  agitation. 

A  Walpurgis  night  of  confused  and  dreadful 
propaganda  followed.  The  socialistic  and  vicious 
classes  of  organized  labor  in  the  teeth  of  loyal  op- 
position of  the  constructive  forces  in  the  "Amer- 
ican Federation,"  had  already  expressed  their 
contempt  for  government.  The  I.  W.  W.  with  the 
support  of  the  visionaries  among  the  moneyed 
class  had  insisted  in  print  and  on  the  platform  that 
the  time  had  come  for  the  wage-earner  to  assert 
himself  without  regard  for  the  existing  law,  and 
anarchistic  circles  everywhere  had  been  given  new 
life  as  a  result  of  industrial  war.  There  had  been 
volley  firing  by  the  military  in  the  streets  of  in- 
dustrial towns  and  many  pitched  battles  between 
the  demonstrators  and  the  police. 

The  World  War  brought  notable  reinforcements 
to  the  forces  arrayed  against  a  government  pledged 

30 


306  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

to  protect  the  liberties  of  its  citizenry  if  necessary 
by  force  of  arms.  Not  only  did  the  pacifist  make 
common  cause  with  the  slacker  who  refused  to 
recognize  his  personal  obligations,  but  he  was  fre- 
quently found  endorsing  and  supporting  the  po- 
sition of  revolutionary  labor.  This  was  embar- 
rassing to  the  Government  and  the  patriot  and 
broadened  channels  through  which  autocracy  in 
the  shape  of  the  Central  Powers  disseminated 
their  poisonous  propaganda  among  the  masses. 
It  was,  however,  of  minor  import  when  compared 
with  the  activities  of  the  great  racial  groups  remain- 
ing in  the  country,  which  were  bound  in  allegiance 
and  by  family  and  national  ties  to  the  Central 
Powers. 

These  after  sending  large  contingents  to  swell 
the  forces  of  the  nations  who,  although  a  declara- 
tion of  war  was  withheld,  had  virtually  become 
the  enemies  of  the  United  States  by  a  breach  of 
compact  and  defiance  of  fundamental  law,  im- 
mediately became  centers  of  enemy  intrigue. 

As  such  it  was  their  first  endeavor  to  promote 
the  cause  of  Prussia  and  its  allies  by  stirring  up 
their  compatriots  to  acts  of  war  within  the  terri- 
tory of  the  United  States  and  to  give  the  revolu- 
tionary groups  identified  with  the  International 
such  aid  and  comfort  as  was  in  their  power. 

They  had  at  hand  the  machinery  which  has  al- 
ready been  referred  to  as  unifying  and  controlling 
sentiment  among  the  great  hordes  of  aliens  in  this 


The  Call  for  Revolution  307 

country,  and  knew  how  to  use  it  most  effectively. 
None  knew  better  than  they  that  a  large  percentage 
of  non-English  speaking  labor,  whether  or  not 
they  owed  allegiance  to  the  allies  or  were  natu- 
ralized citizens  of  the  United  States,  were  de- 
clared enemies  of  society. 

Sometimes  directed  from  Berlin  by  German 
agents  impudently  working  in  their  midst,  some- 
times on  their  own  initiative,  they  undertook  to 
further  the  cause  of  revolution  with  a  shrewd  ap- 
preciation of  the  fact  that  a  civil  war  or  confused 
conditions  in  the  boundaries  of  the  Republic 
would  do  more  to  secure  the  objects  which  the 
junkers  had  at  heart  than  several  army  corps  in 
Flanders  and  France.  They  were  therefore  un- 
stinted in  supplying  aggressive  revolutionists  like 
the  I.  W.  W.  and  associated  organizations  of  irre- 
concilable labor  and  the  proletariat  with  abundant 
funds. 

The  General  Staff  in  Washington,  government 
machinery  provided  to  enforce  the  draft,  committees 
of  safety,  and  commanders  in  charge  of  camp  and 
cantonment  were  a  little  later  to  feel  the  effect  of 
the  tremendous  impulse  given  to  the  forces  that 
had  been  long  working  for  the  destruction  of  law 
and  order  in  America.  Meantime  unassimilated 
Germans,  Hungarians,  Bulgarians,  Swedes,  Greeks, 
Turks,  Holland  Dutch,  contingents  of  Germanized 
Poles  and  Austrians,  and  the  subjects  of  social- 
istic states  like  Finland,  Lithuania,  and  similar 


308  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

countries,  even  when  they  were  not  revolutionaries 
at  heart,  hastened  to  identify  themselves  with  the 
forces  subversive  to  the  democracy. 

Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  when  the  Administra- 
tion encouraged  a  declaration  of  war  the  great 
and  powerful  enemy  of  democracy,  which  had  de- 
fied the  law  of  God  and  man,  and  which  had  mo- 
bilized its  forces  to  crush  individualism,  was  already 
in  control  of  un-uniformed  armies  in  the  United 
States.  That  these  were  eager  to  do  its  bidding, 
whether  through  sympathy  or  because  as  revolu- 
tionaries they  found  that  their  ultimate  objects 
would  thereby  be  advanced,  is  reflected — in  the 
evasion  of  the  draft — in  the  discrediting  of  campaigns 
for  the  sale  of  Liberty  Bonds  by  persons  who  them- 
selves subscribed  to  such  issues  to  hide  their 
machinations — in  the  information  given  to  the 
enemy — and  in  the  disloyal  spirit  so  amazingly 
exhibited  in  many  of  the  national  cantonments. 

I  am  giving  a  single  instance  of  literature  dis- 
tributed during  this  period  as  reflecting  the  mind 
of  a  large  percentage  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  It  will  be  found  to  breathe  hostility  to 
every  principle  which  lovers  of  the  Constitution 
hold  dear.  It  was  published  in  the  form  of  a  two- 
page  leaflet  by  the  I.  W.  W.  Publishing  Bureau  and 
was  distributed  at  the  small  cost  of  $1.75  per  thou- 
sand so  that  there  were  few  agitators  when  backed 
by  moneyed  malcontents  who  could  not  take  part 
in  the  vicious  propaganda. 


The  Call  for  Revolution  309 

It  purports  to  have  been  written  by  Walker  C. 
Smith  and  says : 

Young  man — when  you  are  asked  to  enlist  in  the 
army  or  navy  to  be  used  as  food  for  cannon,  be  sure 
to  look  before  you  leap. 

Remember  the  Spanish  War  with  its  vile  and  un- 
speakable record  of  Embalmed  Beef,  Shoddy  Uniforms, 
etc.,  rotten  ships  and  a  Rottener  Bureaucracy,  etc. 

Remember  that  the  Officers  got  the  honor  and  the 
glory  and  the  men  got  shot  at. 

Remember  that  the  Officers  got  three  squares  each 
day  while  the  rank  and  file  were  starving. 

Remember  that  these  arrogant  and  overbearing 
officials  were  commissioned  because  they  hadn't 
enough  energy  to  work,  brains  enough  to  beg,  or 
courage  enough  to  steal. 

Remember  that  the  acquisition  of  Cuba  and  the  Phil- 
ippines never  raised  your  wages,  shortened  your  hours 
or  otherwise  bettered  your  conditions. 

Remember  the  pensions  the  men  didn't  get 

Remember  those  who  were  maimed,  etc. 

Remember  the  boys  who  never  came  back. 

Think  of  the  widows,  think  of  the  orphans,  think  of 
yourselves. 

Let  Those  Who  Own  the  Country  Do  the  Fighting. 

Put  the  wealthiest  in  the  front  ranks,  the  middle 
class  next,  follow  these  with  judges,  lawyers,  preachers, 
and  politicians.  Let  the  workers  remain  at  home  and 
enjoy  what  they  produce.  Follow  a  declaration  of 
war  with  an  immediate  call  for  A  General  Strike. 

Make  the  slogan — Rebellion  Sooner  than  War,  etc. 


3io  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

Workers  of  the  World  Unite! 
Don't  become  hired  murderers. 
Don't  join  the  Army  or  Navy. 

If  this  is  not  treason  it  is  as  near  rebellion  as  is 
possible  for  a  declarant. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment under  the  stress  of  war  and  with  its  finest 
manhood  mobilized  in  the  national  service  was 
absolutely  helpless  in  the  face  of  this  situation,  and 
distinguished  itself  for  nothing  but  blundering,  it 
should  give  the  patriot  cause  for  thought. 

Perhaps  there  will  be  those  who  can  find  a  way 
out,  but  I  confess  for  myself,  having  had  the  op- 
portunity for  observation  of  actual  conditions  dur- 
ing the  most  strenuous  period  of  our  national  life, 
that  I  find  little  ground  for  optimism. 

How — I  ask  myself — can  we  expect  to  meet  the 
future  issues  of  less  apparent  import  if  we  failed  at 
a  time  when  our  political  interests  were  so  plainly 
identified  with  the  defense  of  the  moral  law? 

Then,  although  the  fine  fury  of  patriotism  had 
brought  men  and  women,  loyal  to  the  Constitution, 
into  the  national  service,  the  Government  found  it 
impossible  to  co-ordinate  the  duties  of  its  officers 
so  as  to  guide  and  control  the  ignorant  masses  of  its 
population. 

Then  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  experienced  and 
resourceful  officers  and  gentlemen  were  in  a  position 
to  direct  corrective  measures,  subversive  influences 


The  Call  for  Revolution  311 

made  it  impossible  for  these  to  correlate  their  bu- 
reaus or  to  secure  the  results  which  any  one  of 
them,  if  he  had  been  given  an  opportunity  to 
act,  could  have  brought  about. 

Then  the  intellectual,  the  theorist  and  the  pedant 
were  introduced  in  such  a  way  into  the  offices  which 
controlled  the  Army  and  co-operating  departments 
of  the  Government  as  to  produce  a  confusion, 
which,  if  Germany  had  reached  the  channel  ports 
or  had  been  able  to  enter  Paris,  would  have  made 
unavailing  the  unlimited  expenditure  of  money 
for  war  purposes  and  the  splendid  sacrifice  of  life 
across  seas. 

In  the  face  of  such  a  record  what  can  we  expect 
today  if  the  devilish  machinations  of  such  shrewd 
and  corrupt  minds  as  Lenine  and  Trotsky  with 
their  compatriots  in  other  lands  should  see  fit  be- 
cause of  the  success  or  failure  of  their  Russian 
plans  to  concentrate  their  efforts  and  give  then- 
whole  attention  to  directing  that  part  of  the  Pro- 
letariat which  is  at  constant  war  with  the  citizenry 
of  the  United  States. 

With  this  offer  of  food  for  reflection  I  am  para- 
phrasing matter  contained  in  a  broadside  dis- 
tributed during  the  last  part  of  the  War  period. 
It  is  dated  May  I,  1918,  and  is  headed — "Procla- 
mation for  Workers'  Independence" — and  ad- 
vertises a  meeting  to  take  place  at  Independence 
Square,  Philadelphia,  May  I,  1918. 

It  is  addressed  in  capital  letters  to: 


312  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

SOLDIERS— SAILORS— WORKERS 

who  are  asked  to  unite  and  join  labor  in  a  mass 
demonstration  to  be  held  on 

May  Day  when  the  Proletariat  will  raise 
their  voices  for  government  of  the  workers 
by  the  workers  and  for  the  workers  in 
America. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  revolutionary  forces 
were  already  exerting  a  mischievous  influence  in 
other  countries,  the  reader  is  advised  that : 

The  workers  in  Russia,  Hungary,  Bavaria,  and 
Bohemia  have  already  come  into  their  own.  They 
"have  gained  control  of  their  usurped  wealth  and  are 
now  operating  the  mines,  the  mills,  and  factories  for 
the  good  of  the  common  people  and  not  for  the  sake 
of  profit." 

Commencing  with  this  statement  the  appeal 
notes  : 

There  is  work  for  all  where  the  workers  rule — and 
where  a  few  do  not  live  on  the  blood  of  starving 
children  and  wealth  realized  from  slaughtered  hu- 
manity. 

and  after  some  rhetorical  flourishes  concludes  as 
follows : 

The  hour  of  labor  has  struck.  We  who  produce  all 
the  wealth  are  the  rightful  owners  of  the  tools  of  pro- 


The  Call  for  Revolution  313 

duction  and  distribution,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  every 
workman  and  woman  to  demand  that  which  belongs 
to  them. 

I  have  attempted  in  the  preceding  pages  of  this 
chapter  to  set  out  a  few  selections  from  a  great 
mass  of  incendiary  literature  which  lies  at  hand 
and  which  I  am  satisfied  is  but  a  modicum  of  the 
uncounted  thousands  of  different  placards  and 
pronunciamentos  which  were  distributed  through- 
out the  United  States  preceding  and  during  the 
war  period.  If  the  reader  is  inclined  to  satisfy 
himself  by  personal  inspection  in  regard  to  the  char- 
acter of  this  material,  he  will  probably  have  no  diffi- 
culty in  finding  accumulations  in  the  archives  of 
the  Department  of  Justice.  Some  knowledge  of  it 
is  necessary  in  order  to  rightly  appreciate  present 
agitation  now  going  on  among  us,  which  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact  is  only  part  and  parcel  of  the  general 
campaign  which  looks  not  only  to  the  destruction 
of  free  government  in  the  United  States,  but  to 
the  overturn  of  society  as  constituted. 

As  I  compare  the  specimens  already  given  with 
those  which  shall  be  offered  hereafter,  I  find  the 
matter  cumulative  in  effectiveness.  Once  it  came 
from  scattered  groups  of  anarchists  and  red  socia- 
lists— from  striking  workmen — or  from  radical 
committees  endeavoring  to  win  the  suffrage  and  sup- 
port of  striking  workmen.  Now,  if  it  is  not  directly 
issued  by  the  Third  International,  it  comes  from 


3H  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

forces  which  are  as  closely  allied  with  the  latter  as 
the  selfish  interest  of  its  leaders  will  permit.  Once 
it  was  restrained  and  timid.  At  present  it  stops  at 
nothing.  Once  it  failed  to  state  its  cause  force- 
fully. In  these  days  it  displays  an  admirable  art 
in  drawing  wrong  conclusions  from  incontrover- 
tible premises  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  its  appeal 
exceedingly  forceful. 

When  it  is  realized  that  the  mischievous  organ- 
ism which  enemy  money  and  enemy  intrigue  in- 
stalled and  elaborated  during  the  War  is  still 
functioning,  it  can  readily  be  seen  how  very  harm- 
ful its  distribution  would  be  even  if  other  factors 
were  left  out  of  consideration. 

Meantime  we  must  not  forget  that — whether  the 
critic  regards  it  as  alarming  or  not — the  whole 
campaign  is  made  immensely  more  dangerous: 

First — because  the  people  behind  the  propa- 
ganda are  perfectly  informed  in  regard  to  the  im- 
potence which  the  United  States  Government  has 
shown  in  developing  machinery  to  either  block  or 
divert  the  plans  of  those  who  strike  at  its  au- 
thority by  boring  from  within;  and 

Second — because  of  the  vicious  activity  of  per- 
sons identified  with  the  more  respectable  classes 
but  whose  lack  of  judgment  has  led  them,  as  pos- 
sessors of  wealth  or  education,  to  put  their  resources 
at  the  disposal  of  the  advocates  of  that  sort  of  free 
speech  which  is  treason. 

There  follow  specimens  of  printed  matter  which 


The  Call  for  Revolution 


have  been  handed  about  in  the  streets,  shoved 
under  door-sills  of  houses  and  stores  during  the 
night-time,  tacked  on  bulletin  boards,  and  dis- 
played in  foreign  clubs  in  various  parts  of  the 
country,  since  the  end  of  hostilities  in  Europe. 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  decrees  of  the 
Third  International  and  with  any  of  the  insidious 
propaganda  which  is  directed  from  Proletariat 
headquarters  will  recognize  that  the  same  in- 
fluence that  is  stirring  the  revolutionary  groups 
in  Germany,  Italy,  Argentina,  and  the  Balkans  — 
which  at  times  has  prostrated  industry  in  Great 
Britain  and  which  has  ruined  Russia  —  is  vigor- 
ously directing  the  campaign  for  the  overthrow  of 
our  own  institutions. 

Hardly  was  the  Armistice  signed  than  the  fol- 
lowing was  distributed  in  various  towns  of  the 
United  States: 

To  the  Working  People  of  America!  The  War  is 
over.  Your  exploiters  have  quickly  placed  their 
profits  in  safety.  You,  the  working  slaves  ,  will  soon 
find  yourselves  in  the  street  facing  a  hard  winter,  look- 
ing for  work  which  is  your  only  means  to  supply  your- 
self with  the  necessities  of  life  because  you  lack  the 
courage  to  use  other  methods. 

You  have  tolerated  all  the  moral  and  physical 
slaveries  during  this  war.  When  you  dared  open  your 
mouths  in  protest  you  were  quickly  jailed. 

What  were  your  profits  out  of  this  war? 

You  lost  all  the  little  liberty  you  had,  and  you  gave 


316  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

your  sons,  brothers,  and  fathers  away  to  be  shot  down 
like  dogs  and  left  to  rot  in  the  fields  of  France. 

For  what? 

For  the  glory  of  the  American  Flag! 

So  that  your  masters  might  have  bigger  markets  to 
sell  their  merchandise  and  exploit  other  people  like 
you. 

The  workers  of  Germany,  Austria,  Russia,  and  other 
countries  have  risen  and  overthrown  their  rulers  not 
by  ballot  but  by  arming  themselves  as  is  your  only 
means.  You  alone  do  not  move.  Are  you  afraid  to 
follow  their  example?  Are  you  afraid  to  take  by 
force  what  rightly  belongs  to  you?  Will  you  wallow 
under  the  iron  heel  of  your  masters,  or  will  you  tear 
your  way  by  revolution  to  a  better  and  happier  life  ? 
Which  will  you  choose? 

This  was  signed  by  a  party  of  workmen  and  ex- 
presses the  sentiment  of  various  placards  and  cir- 
culars which  appeared  in  many  languages  at  the 
same  time. 

Another  one  reads  even  more  frankly : 

It  is  time  now  to  send  to  Hell  every  kind  of  tyrant 
and  every  form  of  man's  exploitation  of  men.  To 
Hell  with  every  race  of  warriors  and  patriots  made 
brutes  in  the  art  of  slaughtering  so  that  the  people  may 
have  less  bread  and  a  tax  on  them  like  a  beast  of 
burden. 

To  the  Devil  with  all  those  who  have  waged  this 
war  and  seek  to  conclude  peace. 

Which  peace?     The  peace  of  atrocious  pain  and  of 


The  Call  for  Revolution  317 

frightful  misery.  Down  with  peace  and  hurrah  for  the 
Revolution. 

Long  live  the  restless  Satan  of  Bolshevism  which 
brings  revolutions  and  demolitions  here  and  beyond  the 
sea.  To  Hell  with  everybody  from  President  Woodrow 
Wilson  to  the  last  citizen  of  this  Republic  which  is  in- 
quisitorial, which  deports  the  people.  Those  who  are 
banished  from  every  fatherland  do  not  know  any  peace 
but  stand  for  war  to  the  last  without  giving  rest  or 
quarter.  Long  live  the  audacious  revolt. 

With  iron  and  with  fire  against  every  enemy  of 
life. 

This  is  signed — " One  who  is  against  the  circles." 
While  this  sort  of  material  was  being  promul- 
gated Eugene  V.  Debs  was  writing  an  article  for 
the ' '  Class  Struggle ' '  published  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
in  which,  after  referring  to  Lenine  and  Trotsky  as 
the  men  of  the  hour,  and  speaking  of  the  Russian 
enterprise  as  a  significant  spectacle  which  stirs  the 
blood  and  warms  the  heart  of  every  revolutionist 
and  challenges  the  admiration  of  all  the  world,  he 
sneers  at  those  who  listen  to  the  false  and  cowardly 
plea  that  the  people ' '  are  not  yet  ready ' '  for  action. 
He  finds  that  so  far  as  the  Russian  Proletariat  is 
concerned  the  day  of  the  people  has  arrived,  and 
he  adds : 

The  people  are  ready  for  their  day.  Who  are  the 
people?  The  people  are  the  working  class,  the  robbed, 
the  oppressed,  the  impoverished,  the  great  majority 
of  the  earth.  That  is  the  attitude  of  Lenine  and 


3i8  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

Trotsky  in  Russia,  that  of  Liebknecht  and  Rosa 
Luxemburg  in  Germany.  The  reign  of  capitalism  and 
militarism  has  made  all  the  people  of  inflammable 
material.  They  are  ripe  and  ready  for  the  change. 
Let  it  come.  Let  us  all  help  its  coming  and  pave  the 
way  for  it  by  organizing  workers,  industrially  and  po- 
litically, to  conquer  capitalism  and  usher  in  the  day 
of  the  people. 

In  conclusion  he  states : 

From  the  crown  of  my  head  to  the  sole  of  my 
feet  I  am  Bolshevik  and  am  proud  of  it. 

As  a  sample  of  literature  issued  by  special  for- 
eign organizations  I  quote  from  a  circular  issued 
to  Polish  working  people  in  that  language.  This 
after  setting  out  the  miseries  which  it  alleges  are 
common  to  the  working-class  as  a  whole,  continues : 

Workers — are  we  going  to  continue  to  be  submissive  ? 
Are  we  going  to  keep  allowing  a  band  of  vampires  to 
draw  out  the  blood  of  our  fathers,  our  brothers,  and 
our  sisters  ?  Are  we  going  to  keep  allowing  this  capi- 
talistic monster  to  kill  our  fathers,  our  brothers,  and 
our  sons  in  wars  for  the  interests  of  capitalists  ?  Work- 
ers, if  we  want  to  exist  we  must  at  any  rate  change  the 
present  capitalistic  order  and  establish  a  new  one.  If 
we  want  to  live  we  must  organize  and  prepare  to  fight 
for  a  better  future.  An  organization  which  is  striving 
to  this  end  is  the  Polish  Section  of  the  Socialistic 
Party.  What  are  the  purposes  of  the  Internationale? 
Their  main  purpose  is  to  destroy  the  present  capital- 


The  Call  for  Revolution  319 

istic  order  and  on  its  ruins  build  a  communistic  order. 
(Communism  and  socialism  are  about  the  same.) 
What  is  a  communistic  order?  A  communistic  order 
is  an  order  according  to  which  all  the  riches,  as  mines, 
factories,  railroads,  will  become  the  property  of  all. 
Working  men  have  nothing  to  lose.  Before  them  is 
the  world  to  be  conquered. 

If  you  are  a  working  man  join  the  ranks  of  the  Polish 
Section  of  the  Socialistic  Party.  There  is  strength  in 
unity  and  victory  in  strength. 

Another  one  in  Polish,  emanating  from  a  wider 
circle — the  United  Communist  Party  of  America — 
frankly  states  that  there  is  need  for  conscription 
of  factories,  and  argues  that  since  the  Govern- 
ment will  not  take  this  up  as  it  will  affect  the  in- 
terests of  the  capitalists  and  the  bosses,  but  one 
means  is  left : 

We,  the  working  people,  must  become  active.  We 
must  take  possession  of  working  institutions  and  es- 
tablish control  of  them.  We  must  control  the  produc- 
tion of  the  entire  business  field  in  order  to  benefit, 
without  exceptions,  the  working  class.  That  is  the 
road  to  communism.  It  is  that  which  the  laborers 
accomplished  in  Russia.  They  organized  their  own 
government  and  that  of  Soviet  Russia.  That  is  exactly 
what  the  laborers  must  do  in  America.  However, 
at  the  time  when  we  try  to  obtain  possession  of  the 
factories  the  manufacturers  will  call  the  Government 
for  protection  which  will  give  them  its  police,  its  army 
equipped  with  machine  guns,  and  all  war  implements 


320  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

will  be  used  to  hold  us  from  getting  our  purpose.  We 
must  be  ready  to  fight  with  them.  We  must  or- 
ganize for  this  fight.  The  time  will  be  soon  come. 
Down  with  unemployment.  Down  with  capitalism. 
Entire  control  for  the  working  man. 

The  above  are  given  as  reasonably  accurate 
translations  of  the  sort  of  incendiary  appeal  that  is 
turned  out  by  the  foreign  language  presses.  They 
are  moderate  examples  of  calls  made  upon  the  so- 
called  oppressed  classes  in  French,  Russian,  Lith- 
uanian, Finnish,  Syrian,  and  various  other 
languages. 

As  a  fair  indication  of  the  volume  of  this  matter 
and  of  its  unquestionable  stream,  I  do  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  recent  samples  will  be  found  at  almost 
any  time  if  an  inquirer  choose  to  make  proper  ap- 
plication at  the  police  stations  of  any  industrial 
center  in  the  United  States  or  at  the  offices  of 
great  manufacturing  plants  employing  foreign 
labor.  A  tragic  phase  of  the  situation  will  present 
itself  if  the  person  in  quest  of  information  asks  for 
a  translation  of  the  exhibits  which  may  be  pre- 
sented. Although  such  may  be  on  file,  it  is  more 
than  likely  that  the  guardians  of  the  public  in- 
terest as  well  as  representatives  of  private  corpora- 
tions have  become  so  callous  through  familiarity 
with  the  exaggerated  and  dramatic  appeal  con- 
tained in  such  literature  that  they  have  fallen 
into  the  way  of  securing  from  their  interpreters 
little  more  than  catch  words. 


The  Call  for  Revolution  321 

While  the  excerpts  offered  the  reader  indicate 
the  general  character  of  these  naively  phrased 
publications  prepared  for  the  foreign  palate,  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  there  are  not  wanting 
posters  so  framed  as  to  make  the  most  of  every 
incident  whether  it  occurs  in  this  country  or  across 
seas,  which  can  be  used  to  further  irritate  and 
anger  the  multitude. 

The  public  is  fairly  familiar  with  the  appeals  in 
English  which  appear  in  the  radical  press  in  behalf 
of  such  heroes  as  Haywood  and  Debs,  but  it  is 
improbable  that  it  is  cognizant  of  the  manner  in 
which  racial  groups  champion  the  cause  of  foreign- 
speaking  persons  who  are  jailed  for  serious  infrac- 
tions of  the  law.  Whether  or  not  there  is  ground 
for  protest,  each  incident  like  that  of  Sacco  and 
Vanzetti  is  twisted  and  used  in  such  a  way  as  will 
add  fuel  to  the  resentment  of  the  prisoner's  com- 
patriots. 

Less  familiar  also  are  such  circulars  as  the  one 
which  accompanied  the  so-called  massacre  of  ne- 
groes in  Tulsa,  Oklahoma.  I  quote  from  a  leaf- 
let distributed  in  Waterbury,  Conn.,  which  is  the 
center  of  Italian,  Russian,  and  Polish  intrigue. 

The  only  language  that  the  bloodthirsty  capitalist 
in  America  can  understand  is  the  language  of  organ- 
ized power.  Only  by  reprisals,  by  answering  force 
with  force,  will  the  business  mobs  and  their  white 
guards,  the  Klu  Klux  Klan,  etc.,  be  restrained  from 
continuing  their  brutal  and  cowardly  assaults  upon 

21 


322  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

the  negro  and  working  class  population  of  this  country. 
If  there  is  any  red  blood  in  the  veins  of  the  working 
class  of  America,  it  will  come  to  the  defense  of  its 
colored  brothers,  who  are  the  victims  of  the  same 
bloodthirsty  capitalist  class  which  exploits  and  mur- 
ders the  workers  regardless  of  color  or  race.  In  their 
own  interests  the  white  workers  of  America  must  come 
to  the  aid  of  the  exploited  negro  masses.  Their  skins 
are  darker  hued  than  ours  but  the  interests  are  the 
same.  Black  and  white,  we,  the  workers,  have  but 
one  enemy — the  capitalist  class  which  uses  its  govern- 
ment to  suppress  us; 

and  again: 

We  have  foolishly  allowed  ourselves  to  be  swayed 
by  race  prejudice.  We  have  failed  to  organize  the 
negro  worker.  We  have  refused  to  treat  him  as  our 
own,  our  equal  brother  in  the  class  struggle.  Break 
down  the  barriers  in  the  Union.  Wipe  out  the  color 
line.  There  is  only  one  line  that  we  can  draw — that 
is  the  class  line.  White  and  black,  Jew  and  Gentile. 
All  the  workers,  the  exploited  masses  must  be  organized 
on  the  basis  of  their  class  interest.  The  hideous  accusa- 
tion of  rapine  has  been  fastened  upon  their  entire  race. 
This  is  the  kind  of  freedom  that  capitalist  constitution 
guarantees  to  the  working  class.  This  is  the  only  kind 
of  freedom  that  the  workers  can  expect  from  the  capi- 
talist government  of  the  United  States.  For  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  is  nothing  else  but 
a  ruthless  dictatorship  of  the  rich  over  the  poor.  It  is 
in  the  interest  of  both  the  negro  and  white  workers  to 
destroy  this  capitalist  government  root  and  branch. 


The  Call  for  Revolution  323 

Shoulder  to  shoulder  and  heart  to  heart  the  workers 
of  all  races  must  unite  in  this  country  to  establish 
a  workers'  government — the  Soviet  Republic  of  Amer- 
ica. The  Communist  Party  of  America  calls  upon  our 
colored  comrades  to  organize  and  with  arms  in  their 
hands  to  resist  the  murderous  armed  assaults  upon 
their  homes,  their  women  and  their  children.  In 
Russia  under  the  Czar's  government  the  Jews  were 
the  victims  of  race  riots  and  pogroms.  In  Russia 
the  workers  and  peasants  overthrew  the  capitalist  gov- 
ernment of  Russia  and  established  a  workers'  govern- 
ment— the  Soviet  Republic  of  Russia.  Only  by  fol- 
lowing our  Russian  comrades'  heroic  example  and  by 
establishing  in  this  country  the  Soviet  Republic  of 
America  will  white  and  black  workers  be  able  to  live 
and  work  in  peace  and  enjoy  the  fruits  to  their  labor. 
Hail  to  the  Proletarian  Revolution! 

In  the  expectation  that  the  reference  herein  given 
will  speak  for  itself,  I  pass  to  another  sort  of  mani- 
festo which  will  not  only  show  the  way  in  which 
matters  which  affect  our  foreign  relations  are  used 
to  sinister  ends  but  will  indicate  the  reactions 
caused  in  our  foreign  population  by  the  policies 
of  the  United  States.  This  is  headed : 

ANSWER  WILSON'S  CHALLENGE,  WORK- 
MEN! 

and  purports  to  come  from  the  United  Communist 
Party  of  America.  It  contains  among  others  the 
following  paragraph : 


324  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  has  taken  the 
leadership  of  the  capitalist  forces  that  are  fighting  to 
keep  the  workers  in  industrial  slavery.  It  is  seeking 
to  unite  all  the  capitalist  governments  of  the  world. 
The  declaration  of  war  against  the  workers'  struggle 
for  freedom  was  made  in  a  note  sent  to  the  Italian 
Government  by  the  Wilson  Administration.  This  note 
reports  the  usual  lies  about  the  Soviet  Russians.  The 
note  attacks  the  Soviet  Government  as  not  being 
Democratic.  It  is  true  that  the  Soviet  Government 
is  a  dictatorship  of  the  Proletariat,  yet  a  larger  part  of 
the  population  has  the  right  to  vote  in  Russia  than  in 
the  United  States.  The  Government  of  the  United 
States  which  scolds  Russia  for  not  being  Democratic 
put  four  thousand  communists  under  arrest  in  Janu- 
ary of  this  year.  The  Government  of  the  United 
States  is  not  the  friend  of  the  workers  and  peasants  of 
Russia  but  is  the  friend  of  the  Russian  capitalists,  it  is 
the  friend  of  every  one  who  desires  to  overthrow  the 
Soviet  Republic.  The  Government  of  the  United 
States  is  the  agent  of  the  powerful  capitalist  class  of 
this  country,  the  capitalists  who  are  robbing  and  op- 
pressing you.  The  capitalists  of  the  United  States 
hate  Soviet  Russia  because  it  is  a  threat  against  the 
whole  system  of  capitalist  exploitation  the  world  over. 
These  capitalists  treat  Soviet  Russia  just  as  they  treat 
you  when  you  go  on  strike,  beat  you  into  submission 
through  the  mailed  fist  of  the  military  machine.  They 
want  to  shoot  and  club  the  workers  of  Russia  who  are 
in  revolt  against  the  capitalist  system  just  as  they  shoot 
and  club  you  when  you  strike  against  low  wages  and 
bad  working  conditions. 


The  Call  for  Revolution  325 

After  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  Ital- 
ian Government  would  like  to  destroy  Soviet 
Russia  but  does  not  dare  to  do  so  because  the  work- 
ers of  Italy  threaten  it  with  revolution,  and  that 
the  English  Government  would  like  to  go  to  the 
aid  of  Poland  but  that  English  workers  threaten 
revolt  it  asks : 

Are  the  working  men  of  the  United  States  alone  to 
be  traitors  to  the  cause  of  working  class  freedom — 

and  continues: 

Working  men  of  the  United  States !  It  is  your  task 
and  your  duty  to  break  the  power  of  the  capital- 
ist government  of  this  country  and  to  prevent  it  from 
using  its  strength  to  uphold  world  capitalism  against 
the  striking  workers  of  the  world — 

and  asks  workers  to  organize  in  their  shops  for 
common  action  against  the  Government.  It  con- 
cludes : 

Workingmen  of  the  United  States,  your  freedom  as 
well  as  the  freedom  of  the  workers  and  the  peasants  of 
Russia  is  at  stake.  You  must  align  yourself  with  the 
workers  and  peasants  of  Russia.  You  must  stand 
shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  revolutionary  workers  of 
all  countries  in  the  struggle  to  overthrow  the  capital- 
ist government  and  world  capitalism. 

So  much  space  has  been  taken  up  by  examples 
of  the  sort  of  printed  material  which  is  being 


326  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

daily  distributed  among  restless  groups  in  some 
or  many  sections  of  the  country  that  I  shall  not 
again  refer  to  the  recent  communication  from  the 
Central  Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist 
Party  in  America  which  has  been  partially  dis- 
cussed in  the  chapter  upon  Incendiary  Appeal,  and 
which  among  other  things  calls  attention  to  the 
position  of  radical  labor  leaders.  Meantime  I  can- 
not forbear  from  noting  that  this  pronunciamento 
marks  an  element  in  the  Proletariat  campaign  which 
is  significant,  viz. — a  disposition  to  incite  the  masses 
against  conservative  leaders  whose  integrity  and 
vision  lead  them  to  quickly  align  themselves  against 
the  sort  of  disloyalty  which  would  shatter  the  op- 
portunity which  a  free  government  in  America 
offers  to  those  who  toif  with  their  hands.  It  is  a 
curious  fact  that  this  special  effort  to  discredit  the 
men  who  deserve  the  confidence  of  the  work- 
ers has  been  coupled  with  a  recognition  of  the 
power  exercised  by  the  Federation  of  Labor  in  this 
country. 

This  is  also  evidenced  by  the  appearance  of  a 
circular  which  purports  to  come  from,  but  is 
disclaimed  by,  the  leaders  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor.  While  using  the  Union 
stamp  the  latter  assumes  that  the  revolutionary 
workers  and  the  labor  movement  of  Europe  and 
America  have  discredited  the  President  of  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor  and  others  like 
him  who  are  alleged  to  be  part  of  the  Amsterdam 


The  Call  for  Revolution  327 

International.  The  appeal  states  that  the  specter 
of  starvation  haunts  the  entire  world,  and  that 
the  breakdown  of  capitalism  has  been  accom- 
panied by  a  savage  drive  upon  the  workers 
by  the  massed  power  of  the  employing  class 
which  has  declared  war  on  labor.  This  war, 
it  alleges,  rages  in  all  countries,  and  is  fol- 
lowed by  the  white  terror  which  slays  the 
Hungarian  worker,  the  West  Virginia  laborer, 
and  the  Union  men  of  Spain  and  Japan.  After 
numerous  recitations  as  to  conditions  in  France, 
Russia,  and  other  countries,  it  avows  that  the 
fight  is  international  between  the  Proleta  iat 
and  capitalism,  and  that  the  American  worker 
is  faced  with  war  on  three  fronts;  that  the  latter 
must  prevent  the  cutting  of  wages ;  meet  the  prob- 
lem of  unemployment ;  and  fight  the  employers  in 
their  open  shop  campaign.  To  do  this  effectively, 
workingmen  must  stop  quarreling  and  close  their 
ranks  so  that  they  can  contend  with  employers 
who  are  united  in  Chambers  of  Commerce,  Manu- 
facturers' Associations,  International  Trusts,  and 
Syndicates.  It  states  that  the  war  is  world- wide, 
and  that  the  capitalists  are  working  through  the 
Amsterdam  International,  a  center  of  world  sabot- 
age against  Soviet  Russia.  In  the  face  of  such  dif- 
ficulties it  calls  upon  the  workers  of  America  to 
discredit  such  an  organization,  to  recognize  their 
feeling  of  close  solidarity  with  Soviet  Russia  and 
follow  the  initiative  taken  by  the  Russian  trade 


328  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

unions  which  founded  on  July  15,  1920,  Red  Labor 
Unions  International  and  the  International  Coun- 
cil of  Trade  and  Industrial  Unions,  which  numbers 
ten  million  strong. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  WILL  TO  REVOLUTION 

ENOUGH  material  has  been  drawn  from  radical 
appeal  to  give  the  reader  an  understanding  in 
regard  to  the  mental  food  which  nourishes  the 
masses.  Of  course  it  is  made  up  of  nonsense  and 
is  unfit  for  human  consumption,  but  the  fact  does 
not  relieve  an  embarrassing  situation. 

One  may  say — pish  and  pshaw — characterize 
incendiary  argument  as  low-brow  logic — and  be- 
come quite  impatient  with  it.  All  this  is  justifi- 
able, but  it  is  also  inane.  It  is  not  here  brought 
forward  in  order  to  induce  or  excite  criticism  but 
to  stimulate  ordinary  cerebration. 

As  yet  those  who  wish  to  preserve  our  national 
standards  have  not  done  very  much  of  this.  They 
have  listened  with  rapt  attention  to  masterful 
deliverances  of  Americans  who  foresee  impending 
danger  and  who  ring  the  changes  upon  the  old 
adage — that  eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty. 

They  agree  with  John  Adams  whose  good  sense 
drafted  the  eighteenth  article  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Bill  of  Rights,  in  his  assertion  "that  a  frequent 

329 


330  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

recurrence  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  the 
Constitution  and  a  constant  adherence  to  those 
of  piety,  justice,  moderation,  temperance,  industry, 
and  frugality  are  absolutely  necessary  to  preserve 
the  advantages  of  liberty  and  to  maintain  a  free 
government." 

They  are  convinced  that  the  present  outrageous 
political  conditions  in  the  United  States  would 
never  have  eventuated  if  our  commercialized  pub- 
lic had  given  such  injunctions  the  sort  of  heed 
that  ordinary  sanity  requires — but  their  intel- 
lectual equipment  is  engaged  in  rinding  solutions 
to  personal  problems — and  they  fail  to  realize  that 
the  great  mass  of  the  people  in  the  United  States 
to-day  know  little  or  nothing  of  fundamental  poli- 
tical principles — that  not  a  word  from  the  utter- 
ances of  our  wisest  citizens  ever  reaches  them — and 
that  if  it  did  reach  them  it  would  be  characterized 
— high-brow  nonsense. 

Herein  lies  a  serious  danger.  If  our  leaders  are 
too  absorbed  in  other  matters  to  comprehend  that 
the  loyalty  pabulum  which  they  find  thrilling  does 
not  feed  the  multitude — then  they  fail  to  grasp 
the  import  of  such  facts  and  figures  as  I  have  sub- 
mitted. If  they  do  not  understand  that  just  as 
two  planes  equidistant  at  all  points  never  meet,  so 
high-brow  correctives  do  not  reach  the  proletariat 
which  looks  for  nourishment  to  low-brow  propa- 
ganda— then  they  will  not  turn  from  the  considera- 
tion of  other  matters  to  trouble  themselves  with 


The  Will  to  Revolution  331 

conclusions  as  to  the  effect  of  such  a  vicious  cam- 
paign as  the  enemies  of  ordered  liberty  are  con- 
ducting in  the  United  States. 

It  is  because  I  believe  that  this  indisposition  to 
reason  much  in  regard  to  the  effect  of  revolution- 
ary literature  and  speech  may  prove  our  undoing 
that  I  am  pointing  out  a  simple  and  elementary 
truth,  namely — that  incitement  to  revolution  cre- 
ates in  those  who  accept  it  a  will  to  revolution,  and 
am  daring  the  statement  that  incitement  to  revo- 
lution which  has  been  carried  on  for  many  years 
in  the  United  States  is  not  only  producing  but  has 
produced  a  definite  will  to  overturn  the  institu- 
tions of  the  country  and  sequestrate  the  accumula- 
tions of  thrift. 

A  free  people  ought  not  to  need  illustrations  or 
overt  acts  to  convince  them  that  incitement  to 
disloyalty  will  produce  defection.  If  they  are 
reasonably  hardheaded  they  will  be  quick  to  reason 
from  cause  to  effect,  and  just  as  quick  to  provide 
ways  and  means  of  meeting  the  peril. 

Last  of  all  ought  the  American  people  (who 
have  an  enviable  record  for  quick-wittedness)  to 
require  more  precedents  and  examples  as  to  the 
mischief  wrought  by  treasonable  talk  than  have 
already  been  provided  by  their  historical  exper- 
ience. It  is  a  matter  of  record  that  before  they 
became  a  nation  they  were  familiar  with  such  exper- 
iences as  the  revolt  of  the  Pennsylvania  line,  with 
Shay's  Rebellion,  and  other  similar  outbreaks 


332  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

which  were  the  result  of  a  sinister  teaching  and 
disloyal  influence.  As  a  Nation  they  passed 
through  such  a  baptism  of  blood  when  the  senti- 
ment in  favor  of  States  Rights  had  crystallized  into 
will,  as  no  other  civilized  people  had  experienced. 

If  any  people  ought  to  know  that  bad  philosophy 
breeds  a  will  to  wreck  and  ruin — it  is  the  Ameri- 
can people. 

If  any  people  have  had  an  opportunity  to  see 
correct  reasoning  justified  by  awful  events — it  is 
the  American  people. 

Therefore,  it  may  be  accounted  strange  and  pass- 
ing strange  that  this  same  American  people  do  not 
through  intellectual  processes  conclude  that  there 
is  a  growing  will  to  destroy  their  dearest  possessions 
as  they  become  cognizant  that  a  subsidized  English 
language  press  is  openly  declaring  war  against 
them,  and  that  thousands  of  different  agencies, 
either  temporary  or  permanent  in  character,  are 
weekly  circulating  incendiary  matter  in  various 
languages  among  the  discontented  foreign  popu- 
lation. 

I  do  not  think  I  am  making  too  strong  a  state- 
ment when  I  say  that  the  American  electorate  has 
not  come  to  this  conclusion.  Meanwhile  a  kindly 
Providence — probably  noting  the  fact  that  gain- 
ful occupation  is  absorbing  such  gray  matter  as 
was  given  the  citizenry  of  the  country  for  primary 
purposes — is  graciously  trumpeting  extraordinary 
warnings  in  their  ears,  and  permitting  little  dramas 


The  Will  to  Revolution  333 

to  be  enacted  in  their  midst  so  that  they  will  have 
small  occasion  to  call  the  Almighty  to  account 
should  their  neglect  hasten  the  day  of  disaster. 

This  sort  of  visualized  and  contemporary  evi- 
dence of  a  will  to  overturn  the  government  ought 
to  appeal  to  a  fool,  let  alone  a  man  of  ordinary  in- 
telligence who  has  not  time  to  spare  from  his  busi- 
ness to  verify  the  reports  that  seditious  utterances 
are  common  on  the  platform  and  in  the  press  or 
to  consider  the  meaning  of  such  phenomena.  One 
extraordinary  warning  takes  the  form  of  great  or- 
ganized societies,  formed  for  revolutionary  pur- 
poses, whose  subsidiaries  are  in  every  part  of  the 
land  and  with  certain  of  which  the  ordinary  citizen 
must  be  acquainted.  Some  of  the  most  impor- 
tant of  these,  which  penetrate  every  populous  state, 
are  the  left  wing  of  the  Socialist  party,  the  Com- 
munist organization,  the  Communist  labor  group, 
the  anarchists  who  have  subdivided  themselves 
into  anarchist-communist  and  anarchist-syndi- 
calist sections,  revolutionary  Industrial  Unions, 
The  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World,  and  various 
international  federations  of  workers  and  crafts 
such  as  the  Amalgamated  Clothing  Workers  of 
America. 

All  of  these  exist  in  defiance  of  democracy  and 
for  the  frank  purpose  of  aiming  at  its  life.  They 
were  not  formed  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  de- 
mocracy or  for  any  other  purpose  than  to  dismantle 
the  machinery  so  laboriously  set  up  by  the  people 


334  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

of  earlier  generations.  Their  object  is  not  to  make 
a  better  democracy  nor  to  enter  into  academic  dis- 
cussion as  to  the  shortcomings  of  democracy,  but 
to  do  away  with  democracy,  if  not  with  that  sort 
of  ordered  society  which  permits  reasonable  liberty 
in  speech  and  action. 

I  do  not  know  why  the  formation  of  these  or- 
ganizations does  not  smack  of  open  treason,  nor 
why  the  disloyal  utterances  of  various  incendiary 
constitutions  should  not  be  regarded  as  a  first  step 
toward  levying  war  against  the  people  of  the  United 
States. 

A  second  extraordinary  warning  takes  the  form 
of  such  collusive  demonstrations  against  the  gov- 
ernment on  the  part  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  a 
given  class  in  the  communtiy  as  are  frequently 
forced  upon  the  attention  of  the  people. 

Without  cataloguing  these  (they  have  been  al- 
most numerous  enough  to  call  for  such  handling) 
I  need  only  refer  to  the  very  recent  attempt  on  the 
part  of  the  leaders  of  millions  of  railway  employees 
constituting  a  fair  percentage  of  the  whole  popu- 
lation to  thwart  the  will  of  the  Government.  The 
program  for  this  detestable  demonstration  set  up 
a  super-organization  within  the  state  itself.  This 
appears  by  frank  orders  which  came  under  the  eye 
of  every  one  who  could  read  and  which  included : 

I — Absolute  control  of  each  unit  in  a  mighty  fed- 
eration, the  members  of  which  were  supposed  to 
regard  their  allegiance  to  the  Government  as  of 


The  Will  to  Revolution  335 

minor  importance  to  the  allegiance  they  owed  their 
labor  chiefs; 

2 — The  distribution  of  responsibility  among  sec- 
tion chiefs; 

3 — Commands  which  threatened  government 
operation  and  might  have  brought  disaster  to  the 
citizenry; 

4 — An  installation  of  campaign  headquarters 
authorized  to  wield  power  not  consonant  with  the 
limitations  of  democracy. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  this  astounding  exhibi- 
tion of  a  will  to  substitute  class  authority  for  the 
authority  of  the  whole  people,  working  through 
constitutional  channels,  secured  the  attention  of 
Americans  generally.  A  man  may  refuse  to  let 
himself  be  troubled  by  the  proximity  of  a  club  that 
is  whirled  about  his  head,  but  he  is  troubled  and 
inconvenienced  when  the  club  knocks  him  down, 
and  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  Nation  felt  that 
it  had  been  hit  when  it  read  the  pronunciamentoes 
of  the  railway  labor  autocracy.  The  alarming  fact, 
however,  is  that  nothing  worth  while  in  the  way 
of  blocking  such  future  exhibitions  is  under  con- 
sideration. This  can  be  explained  only  by  bad 
reasoning. 

a — Either  the  whole  people  felt  that  the  failure 
to  strike  indicated  some  remaining  affection  for 
democratic  institutions  on  the  part  of  the  rank  and 
file  of  the  affiliated  railway  groups  that  had  their 
fingers  at  the  national  throat ;  or — 


336  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

b — The  whole  people  were  satisfied  that  the 
roar  of  protest  that  they  put  up  when  they  were 
hurt  was  evidence  of  such  infinite  resources  of  pa- 
triotic public  spirit  as  would  not  only  take  care  of 
present  but  also  of  future  contingencies. 

Now  while  no  one  realizes  better  than  I  do  that 
there  are  many  fine  and  loyal  characters  among 
the  railway  men  who  withstood  the  call  to  strike 
at  Mother  Country,  I  suspect  that  too  large  a 
company  of  the  demonstrators  voted  against  a 
strike  because  they  felt  that  they  would  be  beaten 
if  such  a  movement  was  initiated  at  that  particular 
time — not  because  love  of  homeland  was  predomi- 
nant. I  also  suspect  that  many  of  the  public  who 
roared  with  pain  when  the  blow  was  aimed  at  the 
Nation  did  so  because  as  part  of  the  Nation  their 
particular  selfish  plans  were  interfered  with— not  be- 
cause they  had  thought  through  the  significance  of 
a  rebellion.  One  may  well  have  mixed  motives  when 
he  denounces  an  act  which  threatens  to  tie  up  the 
carriers  and  to  make  it  inexpedient  to  ship  a  con- 
signment of  goods  that  ought  to  return  a  profit. 

Whether  the  suspicions  thus  suggested  are  based 
on  facts  will  be  for  others  to  determine.  For  pre- 
sent purposes  it  is  sufficient  to  mark  that  the  will 
to  revolution  as  expressed  by  great  affiliated  bodies 
of  workmen  from  before  the  time  when  Mr.  Roose- 
velt during  the  tie-up  of  the  coal  fields  arranged 
for  the  mobilizing  of  the  Federal  troops,  has  fre- 
quently crystallized  into  action. 


The  Will  to  Revolution  337 

The  last  form  that  these  extraordinary  warnings 
that  the  magnanimity  of  an  over-seeing  Power  has 
provided  for  the  Nation's  instruction  are  taking, 
is  reaching  us  through  hundreds  of  inexcusable 
local  revolts  against  the  law  of  the  land  that  have 
been  launched  and  nourished  by  the  irreconcilable 
agitator. 

If  the  reader  lives  in  an  industrial  section  of 
the  country  he  will  not  have  to  go  far  to  get  an 
illustration. 

These  revolts  generally  follow  an  unjustified 
strike  or  lockout,  and  frequently  indicate  by  the 
swiftness  with  which  they  succeed  each  other,  that 
they  are  part  and  parcel  of  a  general  revolutionary 
campaign.  Thus  far  they  appear  to  have  been 
viewed  by  the  employer  as  annoying  attempts  to 
coerce  him — by  communities  as  pestilential  efforts 
on  the  part  of  lawless  people  to  discredit  their  good 
name — and  by  the  Federal  Department  of  Justice 
as  opportunities  for  rounding  up  objectional  spirits 
who  have  been  listed  for  deportation. 

They  deserve  more  consideration !  Generally  it 
is  true  that  they  are  sporadic  and  symptomatic, 
smacking  of  broad  tides  of  smouldering  human  pas- 
sion as  the  thin  and  curling  smoke  from  a  volcano 
indicates  wide  areas  of  hidden  heat  and  flame. 
These  have  their  message.  Moreover,  they  are 
too  often  the  forethrust  of  a  secret  central  council 
which,  bent  upon  levying  war,  diagrams  its  cam- 
paign as  cleverly  as  did  the  German  War  Staff,  and 


The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

puts  out  feelers  to  test  the  temper  of  the  people  and 
to  ascertain  whether  bad  leaven  is  working. 

The  demonstrations  in  the  Merrimack  Valley 
and  just  outside  of  Greater  New  York  which  com- 
pelled attention  during  the  general  Armistice 
period  is  an  interesting  instance  of  this  strategic 
work.  Bolshevism  was  dictating  to  various  peo- 
ples, and  it  was  desirable  to  know  just  how  far  the 
proletariat  in  given  American  areas  would  respond 
to  revolutionary  appeal — perhaps  also  to  feel  the 
pulse  of  the  disgruntled  element  in  that  part  of  the 
draft  army  which  had  never  been  called  into  action. 

It is  a  matter  of  record  that  the  loyal  spirit  of  the 
returned  soldiers  made  this  foray  for  information 
of  little  account  to  the  mischief-makers .  Meantime 
it  developed  enough  ignorance  and  ill-will  to  serve 
the  more  sinister  purposes  of  the  conspirators. 

Another  instance  which  will  readily  be  recalled 
occurred  in  the  flare  up  of  the  Boston  Police  strike 
which  illustrated  the  cunning  with  which  the  head 
center  of  revolution  lays  its  lines.  Hardly  had  the 
authorities  brought  themselves  in  this  case  to  realize 
that  the  guardians  of  the  law — an  essential  part 
of  the  self-governing  community  machinery — had 
refused  to  act  and  were  violating  their  oaths,  than 
they  were  called  upon  to  meet  and  disperse  a  tu- 
multuous rush  of  disorder  that  rifled  shops  far  and 
wide  and  threw  the  city  into  a  semi-panic.  By 
happy  chance  the  administrative  personnel  did  not 
permit  itself  to  be  stampeded  and  acted  with  a 


The  Will  to  Revolution  339 

promptness  which  the  revolutionary  element  with 
abundant  precedents  to  judge  by  had  not  expected. 
Therefore,  whatever  plans  had  been  concocted  for 
the  encouragement  of  a  treasonable  following 
failed.  Meantime  the  extraordinary  coincidence 
which  staged  a  mob  at  the  precise  moment  when 
the  police  power  appeared  to  be  gagged  and  bound, 
suggests  with  some  incisiveness  that  the  same  in- 
fluence which  poisoned  a  great  body  of  once  re- 
spectable men  had  appeared  to  use  the  event  to  the 
advantage  of  those  who  recognized  no  duty  to  ex- 
isting society. 

Unfortunately  enough  the  Boston  Police  episode 
not  only  displays  the  cleverness  with  which  revo- 
lutionary influences  work  intensively,  but  illus- 
trates the  masterfulness  of  their  campaigns  in  ex- 
tenso  and  their  connections  with  the  great  radical 
press  which  does  their  bidding.  While  Massachu- 
setts was  congratulating  itself  on  having  smoth- 
ered the  embers  of  what  appeared  to  threaten  a 
conflagration — the  foreign  population  wherever  lo- 
cated in  the  land  were  being  informed  that  "the 
streets  of  Boston  are  running  with  the  gore  of  the 
starving  and  stirring  masses" — and  that  (as  a 
New  York  publication  put  it) — "Scollay  Square  is 
stained  with  human  blood.  Its  first  baptism  of 
blood  it  received  the  day  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution— yesterday  for  a  second  time  they  baptized 
it  with  human  blood  under  the  cracking  of  machine 
guns  and  the  frightful  yells  of  the  crowd  fired  upon. 


340  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

The  police  of  Boston  have  struck — workingmen 
are  prepared  to  strike." 

Who  doubts  but  that  these  lying  announcements 
would  have  been  followed  up  by  other  equally 
reprehensible  news  items  if  the  Police  Commis- 
sioner had  lost  his  head,  and  who  doubts  but  that 
a  chain  of  disorders  would  have  been  inaugurated 
as  a  direct  consequence. 

In  taking  up  seriatim  as  I  have  certain  evidence 
which  indicates  a  will  to  revolution,  I  have  re- 
frained from  selecting  other  than  a  few  notable 
instances  of  an  ugly  and  subversive  spirit  among 
us  which  is  registering  the  fact  that  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  population  are  in  actual  revolt 
against  the  Government.  It  would  have  been 
next  to  impossible  to  gather  an  appreciable  part 
of  the  testimony  that  is  available,  and  there  seems 
to  be  no  occasion  for  so  doing.  If  the  reader  is  uncon- 
vinced, I  suggest  that  he  betake  himself  to  any 
industrial  city  or  town  in  the  land  and  mingle  with 
the  working  people  thereof.  He  will  not  have  long 
to  search  before  finding  individuals  who  will  tell 
him  that  they  are  waiting  der  Tag — the  day  when 
they  expect  to  take  possession  of  the  factories  in 
which  they  are  employed  as  well  as  of  all  vested 
interests  in  that  community. 
_How  shall  we  estimate  this  will  to  revolution,  and 
what  shall  we  do  ?  I  am  expressing  my  own  thought 
in  the  closing  chapter  as  to  the  last  proposition. 
As  to  the  former^How  shall  we  estimate  the  will 


The  Will  to  Revolution  341 

to  revolution  ?  I  think  there  is  no  other  reply  than 
this — We  ought  to  accept  it  at  its  value,  as  some- 
thing concrete  that  is  taking  form  and  that  is 
loaded  to  the  muzzle  with  danger.  "  Danger  of 
what?" — does  the  reader  ask?  Danger  of  tempo- 
rary mob-rule — of  the  use  of  devilish  means  and 
methods  to  secure  detestable  ends — of  destruction 
of  property — of  loss  of  life — of  excesses  in  some  way 
(but  in  a  lesser  degree),  resembling  the  excesses 
for  which  Sovietism  is  responsible  in  Russia. 

If  we  are  really  in  danger — and  I  think  we  are — 
it  means  that  these  abhorrent  conditions  may  at 
any  time  become  actual.  This  should  be  of  real 
consequence  to  those  who  have  regard  for  their 
church  and  civic  institutions  and  for  their  families 
and  homes.  It  even  concerns  those  who  want 
security  in  order  that  they  may  trade  to  advantage. 

Does  it  follow  that  if  an  enlightened  public  does 
not  mobilize  for  security  the  Red  revolutionist 
will  soon  be  in  a  position  to  wreck  free  institutions  ? 
Yes !  but  not  in  the  way  he  plans,  because  the  Red 
revolutionist  will  be  utterly  destroyed  in  the  fire 
which  he  kindles.  He  can  throw  the  wrecking 
bomb  that  tears  him  to  pieces  with  his  victim,  but 
if  any  one  secures  an  advantage  therefrom  it  will 
be  the  autocract  who  always  gets  into  the  saddle 
after  every  human  convulsion  and  inaugurates 
measures  which  not  only  blot  out  license  but  also 
gag  liberty. 

I  am  not  afraid  of  the  Red  socialist,  although  I 


342  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

see  little  sense  in  permitting  him  to  brandish  his 
torch,  but  I  do  fear  the  rule  of  the  few  which, 
whether  it  is  inaugurated  to  discourage  disorders 
before  they  are  well  advanced  or  to  bring  order  out 
of  chaos,  comes  nearer  and  nearer  to  us  with  the 
growth  of  the  revolutionary  spirit. 


CHAPTER  III 

FINALE 

I  HAVE  been  interrupted  in  the  brief  summary 
*  which  I  now  propose  to  make  of  the  matter  so 
informally  gathered  by  the  visit  of  an  Italian  ex- 
service  man  who  desires  friendly  counsel  in  regard 
to  a  Fraternal  Benefit  Association. 

As  he  can  speak  but  little  English  he  has  brought 
an  interpreter.  The  man  looks  intelligent — he 
made  a  fine  record  on  the  Italian  battle  front — and 
is  doing  enough  civic  work  without  compensation 
to  indicate  that  he  is  well-disposed  toward  the  in- 
stitutions of  the  country.  Meantime  I  learn  that 
he  came  to  America  in  1908,  and  have  asked  why 
he  has  not  learned  English.  The  answer  is 
that  he  has  been  more  than  willing  to  do  so  but  his 
continuous  work  with  the  cotton  mills  of  an  in- 
dustrial city  has  brought  and  kept  him  in  contact 
with  Italians  and  there  has  been  little  occasion  for 
him  to  mingle  with  Americans. 

I  transcribe  the  incident  because  just  as  a  gleam 
of  lightning  lays  bare  what  has  been  concealed  by 
the  shadows,  so  it  brings  into  relief  the  actual 

343 


344  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

standing  of  the  foreign  peoples  who,  not  without 
invitation,  have  insinuated  and  seemed  to  lose 
themselves  in  the  Nation's  public  and  private 
affairs.  This  man  is  one  of  the  comparatively 
small  company  of  aliens  who  are  sufficiently  satis- 
fied with  existing  conditions.  He  lives  in  a  com- 
munity and  a  state  which  provides  educational 
facilities,  and  yet  although  fourteen  years  have 
transpired  since  he  first  entered  an  American  port, 
he  has  failed  to  find  a  way  by  which  he  can  get  in 
touch  with  the  American  people.  I  do  not  hesitate 
to  affirm  that  the  case  fairly  represents  the  condi- 
tion of  the  majority  of  foreigners  who  have  crossed 
our  borders  since  the  opening  of  the  century. 

It  was  a  recognition  of  this,  viz. — the  intrusion 
of  races  untrained  in  democracy  into  a  democracy 
that  led  me  as  a  citizen  to  make  inquiry  into  the 
status  of  the  American  democracy,  and  its  fitness 
to  solve  as  difficult  a  problem  as  has  ever  come  be- 
fore a  state. 

As  the  reader  has  noted  I  find  what  many  sense 
without  effort  that  political  society  in  the  United 
States  is  gravely  affected  by  world  conditions — 
that  extraordinary  and  unhappy  changes  have  been 
wrought  in  the  Nation  itself  since  its  beginnings — 
that  a  foreign  invasion  has  superimposed  elements 
of  strife  and  discord  upon  a  people  which  shows 
signs  of  decadence  and  that  revolution  of  some 
sort  is  imminent. 

These  are  ugly  facts,  but  twist  and  turn  as  I 


Finale  345 

may  they  are  to  be  reckoned  with.  I  am  neither 
a  pessimist  nor  prophet  of  evil — I  cling  to  a  faith 
that,  whether  it  be  by  weal  or  woe,  man  is  bound 
to  attain  higher  standards.  Curiously  enough — 
perhaps  because  I  prefer  battle  for  a  moral  purpose 
to  peace  with  dishonor,  I  am  inclined  to  view  and 
have  been  inclined  to  view  the  World  War  as  God's 
instrument  in  shaking  the  nations  into  a  recognition 
and  observance  of  forgotten  duties.  This  means 
that  I  think  the  United  States  is  stronger,  purer, 
and  better  than  it  was  in  1 9 1 5.  I  recall  how  Christ 
made  a  scourge  of  small  cords  and  ejected  those 
who  were  making  the  Temple  at  Jersualem  a  place 
for  merchandise.  The  temple  must  have  been  a 
more  wholesome  place  for  worship  thereafter. 

I  glory  in  the  greatness  of  spirit  recently  re- 
vealed by  the  choice  youth  of  the  land  in  the  face 
of  blinding  issues.  No  people  I  think  have  ever 
existed  who  show  greater  resources  and  reserves 
of  power,  brain,  and  wealth. 

This  is  all  to  the  good,  but  it  does  not  relieve  me 
and  it  does  not  relieve  other  citizens,  wiser  and  bet- 
ter, from  frankly  facing  facts,  whether  they  are 
pleasant  or  unpleasant,  which  an  era  that  compels 
readjustments,  thrusts  upon  our  attention.  The 
political  future  of  the  Nation  upon  which  every 
moral  and  economic  interest  rests,  is  dependent 
upon  the  sort  of  conclusions  we  arrive  at  in  such 
times  of  retrospection,  and  nothing  is  surer  than 
that  these  conclusions  will  be  worthless  or  danger- 


346  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

ous  if  they  are  not  based  upon  reliable  premises,  or 
if  we  persuade  ourselves  that  existing  conditions 
are  figments  of  the  brain  and  not  brutal  actualities. 

Thus  reasoning  and  endeavoring  to  honestly  use 
the  facts  before  me  I  regret  to  record  a  conviction 
that  American  democracy,  as  the  men  of  the  last 
generation  knew  it,  can  only  be  preserved  by  some 
reform  movement  so  clarifying  and  titanic  as  to 
stagger  the  imagination.  It  is  obviously  not  func- 
tioning at  present,  but  the  machinery  so  labori- 
ously set  up  still  exists. 

I  think  I  know  some  of  the  steps  that  should  be 
taken  by  those  who  believe  as  I  do  that  it  is  infin- 
itely important  that  the  sort  of  popular  govern- 
ment provided  for  by  the  Federal  Constitution 
should  be  perpetuated,  but  this  is  not  the  season 
to  proffer  such  suggestions  because  the  men  and 
women  whose  talents  are  needed  for  the  planning  of 
a  corrective  campaign  are  yet  sleeping.  Until  they 
are  awake  it  will  be  the  duty  of  the  hour  for  those 
who  are  apprehensive  as  to  what  the  future  has  in 
store  for  America  and  civilization  to  kindle  signal 
fires  and  pass  along  a  warning  outcry.  If  the  fires 
are  bright  enough  and  the  shout  of  warning  is  co- 
herent, it  will  stir  the  citizenry  to  ask  what  the  flare 
and  noise  is  all  about  and  to  possess  themselves  of 
the  facts. 

Those  of  us  whose  egoism  leads  to  fantastic 
creations  outside  of  the  real  or  the  possible  will  be 
too  self -centered  to  care  whether  the  old  regime 


Finale  347 

lapses  or  not.  Those  who  hope  by  evolution  to 
force  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  to  shackle  individ- 
ualism by  subjecting  the  soul  that  is  fitted  for  lead- 
ership to  mass  control,  will  not  notice  that  they 
are  hastening  decay  and  revolution,  but  those 
who  know  that  freedom  provides  opportunity  both 
for  God  and  man  and  who  learn  of  the  appalling 
status  will  not  only  join  in  the  cry  en  garde — but 
will,  each  in  his  own  place,  do  whatever  he  may 
to  block  the  furious  drift  which  is  undermining 
American  institutions. 

The  corrective  task  before  these  is  a  prodigious 
one  and  immeasurably  more  difficult  than  that 
with  which  the  men  of  1 776  had  to  do.  It  is  easier 
to  erect  a  building  than  it  is  to  shore  up  an 
edifice  that  threatens  collapse. 

The  men  of  the  earlier  epoch  were  homogene- 
ous in  racial  stock,  custom,  language,  and  tradi- 
tions. They  represented  the  whole  citizenry. 

They  were  separated  from  embarrassing  forces 
and  influences. 

They  were  of  one  mind  in  a  desire  to  achieve 
ordered  liberty,  and  they  recognized  this  as  the 
fundamental  need  of  the  race — as  the  avenue  which 
left  the  individual  unfettered  in  his  relation  to 
God  and  man  and  also  provided  opportunity  for 
spiritual  and  material  progress. 

They  spoke  eye  to  eye  and  face  to  face.  Their 
lives  were  simple  and  their  thinking  followed 
straight  lines. 


348  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

The  freedom  which  they  cherished  was  threat- 
ened from  without — not  from  within. 

Quite  otherwise  are  the  conditions  which  con- 
front Americans  who  believe  in  freedom  under  the 
law  at  the  present  time. 

They  belong  to  a  citizenry  which  is  not  homo- 
geneous in  racial  stock,  custom,  language,  and 
traditions. 

The  elimination  of  time  and  space  causes  the 
pulse  of  the  Nation  of  which  they  are  a  part  to 
throb  with  every  impulse  that  comes  from  centers 
of  world  degeneracy  and  decay.  Meantime  their 
industrial  and  political  plans  are  modified  and 
shaped  to  meet  the  will  of  an  alien  invader  whose 
following  is  too  great  to  be  counted  and  who 
promises  to  shortly  dictate  all  their  affairs. 

Far  from  being  of  one  mind  the  citizenry  of 
which  old-style  Americans  are  a  unit  is  of  a  thou- 
sand minds,  while  state  education  which  was 
designed  to  make  clear  the  advantages  of  free  in- 
stitutions and  encourage  the  people  to  look  to  men 
of  sound  judgment  for  leadership,  has  encouraged 
speculation  and  is  wreathing  the  banners  of  cap- 
tains whose  brilliant  intellectual  qualities  are  more 
in  evidence  than  their  good  sense.  A  large  pro- 
portion of  this  citizenry  has  been  innoculatedby  the 
schools  with  a  taste  for  socialism  and  a  mania  for 
combination.  It  does  not  exercise  its  mind  po- 
litically but  discusses  the  moral  and  industrial 


Finale  349 

measures  which  chiefly  concern  it,  as  if  these  were 
the  only  things  that  matter.  To  it  the  state 
is  apparently  something  stable  and  enduring  which 
takes  care  of  itself. 

The  patriots  of  this  period  cannot  discuss  their 
common  concerns  with  each  other  because  the 
language  of  the  country  is  not  a  common  language 
— nor  is  there  any  chance  of  communication 
between  them  and  the  shifting  foreign  population 
which  enfolds  their  cities.  Their  lives  are  com- 
plex because  of  confused  conditions  about 
them,  and  if  they  still  think  straight  in  political 
matters  as  did  their  ancestors,  it  is  not  easy  to 
translate  thought  into  action  because  the  legis- 
latures which  are  presumed  to  speak  their  will 
are  too  often  tools  of  classes  and  coteries. 

Such  freedom  as  is  left  to  them  by  the  commis- 
sions and  office  holders  of  a  degenerate  govern- 
ment is  threatened  from  within  by  enemies  both 
within  and  without  and  takes  the  form  of  revolu- 
tion. 

I  have  recorded  my  belief  that  Americans  who 
are  loyal  to  National  traditions  will  not  be  found 
unresponsive  to  the  call  for  duty  when  they  realize 
the  necessity  for  constructive  work.  To  my  mind 
the  mere  recitation  of  the  matter  contained  in 
the  foregoing  paragraphs,  if  it  could  be  brought 
to  their  attention,  would  do  something  to  stir  them 
to  action.  What  the  actual  things  are  that  they 
will  do  when  the  awakening  comes  I  cannot  imag- 


350  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

ine,  although  I  suspect  that  the  times  are  so  per- 
plexing and  the  mind  of  the  public  so  lacking  in 
conviction  that  it  will  be  impossible  to  at  once  create 
reforms  which  will  revivify  democracy.  It  is  not 
improbable  that  they  will  find  their  first  endeavor 
must  be  given  to  blocking  the  mischievous  in- 
fluences which  are  everywhere  evidenced  and  which 
are  massing  for  an  attack  against  ordered  society. 
In  this  they  ought  to  have  the  assistance  of  those 
who  are  ambitious  for  the  inauguration  of  the 
socialized  state,  and  of  the  thrifty  souls  who  have 
listened  to  strange  doctrines  through  ignorance. 
Neither  of  these  classes  have  anything  to  gain  but 
everything  to  lose  by  revolution. 

When  a  hurricane  is  pushing  its  thunderheads 
towards  the  zenith,  and  formidable  gusts  of  wind 
are  driving  the  vessel  from  its  course,  it  is  wise  for 
the  shipmaster  to  concentrate  his  energies  upon 
keeping  his  craft  afloat  and  give  over  the  endeavor 
to  reach  port.  It  is  also  wise  for  any  dissatisfied 
element  in  the  crew  to  forget  its  contentions  and 
become  subordinate  for  the  sake  of  present  safety. 

It  is  true  that  it  is  not  an  ambitious  program, 
this  standing  en  garde.  Nothing  strains  a  sol- 
dier's nerve  more  that  the  sort  of  campaign  which 
is  directed  toward  holding  the  terrain  that  has  been 
acquired.  That  which  is  divine  in  man  wishes 
to  press  on,  and  the  merely  human  fails  to  realize 
that  there  may  be  distinct  achievement  in  retain- 
ing a  grip  upon  something  precious  that  is  being 


Finale  351 

torn  from  its  grasp.  As  a  result  we  grow  impa- 
tient when  the  orders  come  to  mark  time.  There 
is  apt  to  be  loss  of  morale  and  perhaps  of  righting 
strength. 

Meantime  I  cannot  satisfy  myself  that  there  is 
any  other  sane  course  at  present  for  the  Constitu- 
tionalist to  follow  than  to  bend  every  energy  toward 
preserving  ordered  society,  leaving  questions  that 
have  to  do  with  the  democracy  which  his  fathers 
knew,  or  better  democracy,  to  more  settled 
times. 

The  excesses  of  the  period  are  leading  him  to 
question  the  responsibility  of  the  body  politic  in 
the  United  States  as  now  constituted,  and  bringing 
home  to  him  the  fact  that  Edmund  Burke  (dis- 
credited in  these  times) ,  George  Washington,  and 
John  Marshall — men  who  have  never  been  sur- 
passed in  attributes  of  judgment  or  in  their  con- 
tributions to  the  cause  of  liberty — distrusted  the 
people,  alt  hough  each  in  his  turn  endeavored  to  find 
ways  and  means  by  which  the  people  could  be 
guarded  from  the  consequences  of  their  own  act. 
In  vain  does  he  conjure  up  the  spirit  of  Abraham 
Lincoln.  There  is  little  comfort  there.  The  great 
American  had  abundant  confidence  in  an  elec- 
torate made  up  of  the  rugged  husbandmen  and 
workers  of  his  period,  but  there  is  little  evidence 
that  the  people  whose  cause  he  championed  in  any 
way  resemble  the  people  who  exercise  the  franchise 
in  the  United  States  to-day,  and  his  spoken  and 


352  The  Peril  of  the  Republic 

printed  wisdom  contains  nothing  that  encourages 
a  belief  that  he  would  have  consigned  rights  of  in- 
calculable value  to  the  guardianship  of  whatever 
human  flotsam  and  jetsam  might  be  brought  to- 
gether by  organization. 

Nothing  in  the  patriot's  own  experience  justi- 
fies a  greater  confidence  in  men  en  masse  than  has 
been  shown  by  the  conservative  philosophers  of  the 
past.  During  the  last  thirty  years  his  fellow- 
citizens  have  opened  the  floodgates  to  the  inrush 
of  alien  humanity,  alien  measures,  and  alien  ex- 
cesses, and  have  gazed  in  ingenuous  stupidity  at 
the  tide  which  is  now  swamping  them. 

With  such  evidence  before  him  the  believer  in 
American  institutions  will  hardly  know  how  to  ar- 
ticulate any  appeal  to  the  electorate  which  has 
for  its  object  the  re-establishment  of  earlier  po- 
litical standards. 

Let  us  suppose,  however,  that  after  consulting 
the  best  minds  of  the  past  as  well  as  his  own  ex- 
perience the  citizen  is  still  disposed  to  have  faith 
in  the  people  and  seeks  to  rally  them  to  the  defense 
of  ancient  rights  and  privileges.  Will  they  re- 
spond? I  do  not  think  so.  Some  of  them  believe 
that  our  Bills  of  Rights  prattle  about  principles 
that  have  been  outgrown  by  evolution. 

Some  are  too  busy  to  consider  anything  but  busi- 
ness. 

Some  would  substitute  a  worker's  government 
for  a  people's  government. 


Finale  353 

Some  find  it  for  their  interest  to  manage  the 
people. 

Some  wish  no  government  of  any  sort;  and 

Some — too  many — believe  that  the  beneficent 
system  under  which  we  have  become  the  greatest 
of  Nations  is  the  ready  tool  of  industrial  and  po- 
litical cliques. 

Perhaps  I  am  not  making  a  fair  statement.  If 
I  am,  there  is  surely  little  reason  for  any  one  to 
expect  that  the  American  people  will  turn  itself  into 
a  committee  of  the  whole  and  give  its  attention 
to  vital  reforms. 

What  can  be  done  in  the  alternative?  Nothing 
now  I  fear  but  to  endeavor  to  hold  fast  whatever 
rights  and  privileges  we  still  retain.  This  object 
can  only  be  secured  by  calling  back  to  private  life 
the  army  of  office  holders  who  form  a  large  per- 
centage of  the  population,  using  the  schools  to 
teach  democracy  instead  of  sociology,  regulating 
the  alien  population,  and  providing  a  censorship  for 
the  non-English  press — in  short,  by  doing  the  ob- 
vious things  to  block  revolution,  whether  it  comes 
by  fire  or  sword,  or  possibly  by  the  art  of  the  adroit 
autocrat. 

Great  as  the  fathers  of  this  democracy  were,  it 
may  be  that  they  committed  a  minor  error  in  fail- 
ing to  recognize  the  principles  which  insure 
perpetuity.  If  so,  this  explains  the  distressing  aban- 
donment of  its  standards  by  the  last  generation  of 
Americans.  In  any  event,  there  is  surely  occasion 
23 


354  Tlie  Peril  of  the  Republic 

to  check  a  retreat  which  may,  as  has  been  before 
suggested,  involve  society. 

The  cry,  therefore,  is  now  a  rallying  one.  If  this 
is  heeded  and  morale  is  restored,  it  will  not  be  sur- 
prising if  Americans  find  themselves  on  the  eve  of 
another  great  advance  movement  that  will  for  the 
first  time  in  the  history  of  man  guarantee  ordered 
liberty  to  each  human  being  in  our  chosen  Nation. 
Such  an  eventuality  can  only  be  brought  about  by 
at  present  standing  en  garde.  t 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
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